All the faculties were having examinations recently. The battle faculty and the command faculty were no exception.
The command center had theory exams, including a sand table exam about battle command. Unfortunately, w.a.n.g Teng wasn’t interested in them, so he only picked up attributes and didn’t go for the tests.
The battle faculty had theory exams too, but their main focus was actual combat.
Friday, in the afternoon.
The instructor of the actual combat lesson, Deng Bo, led everyone to the actual combat training building.
As they walked, he said, “We have the actual combat a.s.sessment today. We will be taking the exam with the other cla.s.ses.”
The battle faculty had the most number of students, so it had more than one cla.s.s.
Along the way, w.a.n.g Teng’s battle cla.s.s one met the other cla.s.ses. The instructors greeted each other, then gathered and arrived at the actual combat training building.
“We are taking the exam with the other cla.s.ses.”
“Won’t it be embarra.s.sing if we don’t score well?”
“I must be serious later. We can’t lose to the other cla.s.ses.”
…
The other cla.s.ses were having low discussions among themselves too. No one wanted to lose to the others.
When they reached the actual combat training building, they realized that the head of the battle faculty, Tong Hu, whom they hadn’t seen in a long time, was already waiting for them.
“The head is hosting the exam personally? Why do they have to be so serious? I feel a little nervous,” everyone muttered in low voices.
“Let’s go to the fifth floor,” Tong Hu said immediately.
w.a.n.g Teng was surprised. The fifth floor wasn’t open to the general public during normal times. Yet, they actually opened it now.
When they reached the fifth floor, he felt a little confused. The scene in front was completely different from what he imagined.
He saw a long corridor first. There were similar rooms along both sides of the corridor.
At the moment, the doors were closed tightly. Also, the interval was small, so one could tell that the s.p.a.ce inside was extremely limited.
“This is the virtual combat chamber.” Tong Hu astounded everyone when he opened his mouth.
“Virtual combat chamber!”
“Would it be like the virtual equipment in movies?”
“I don’t think so. Has our technology progressed to that stage? I’ve never heard of it.”
“If virtual equipment is available, does that mean that they can invent virtual games?”
Everyone started discussing in hushed voices.
This was a ma.s.sive piece of news to them. Many people were greatly curious. They stared at the small rooms as though they wanted to bore a hole through the walls with their eyes.
“Your guess is right. This is the kind of virtual equipment you are thinking about. Currently, this still belongs to battle resources. Thus, it’s not available to the public,” Tong Hu said.
“So it’s true.” w.a.n.g Teng was amazed. However, he couldn’t help but frown. “How far has our technology progressed? It looks like the public can’t get in touch with many things.”
“Please don’t tell the public about this. If not, you will be heavily punished. Only the top few universities in the world have this kind of facility. You should feel fortunate. Once the time is right, the country will disseminate it on a small scale. It shouldn’t be too far away,” Tong Hu said.
They’re so strict. Everyone felt anxious. But, at the same time, they were excited to try the device.
“Alright, let’s not waste any time. Each of you can pick a room and enter. You can choose your level of difficulty and your location. The computer will give an overall score based on your performance,” Tong Hu said.
“There are different difficulty levels and locations? Wow, it looks fun.” The students were pleasantly surprised. They chose a room and entered.
They seemed to have forgotten that this was an exam. Instead, they treated it like a game.
“Hmph, these young fellows seem very happy. I hope that they won’t cry later.” Tong Hu couldn’t help but sn.i.g.g.e.r evilly. He turned to the instructors and said, “Let’s go to the main control room to look at their performances.”
The main control room was at the end of the corridor. It was a huge room with screens attached to the entire wall. Currently, different images were being displayed. There were deserts, gra.s.slands, and even the sea… the students had already entered the virtual rooms and started their examination.
…
After w.a.n.g Teng entered the room, he noticed that the s.p.a.ce inside was indeed minimal. There was only a huge silver-white gaming chamber device inside the room.
“Please enter your identification details and wear the sensor helmet before entering the virtual chamber,” A robotic voice reminded him.
The voice had startled him. He entered his student identification number and wore the helmet that was placed at the side. Then, he entered the virtual chamber.
“In position!”
“w.a.n.g Teng, welcome to the Immortal Dragon 08 virtual chamber!”
“Chamber door closing!”
“Entering the nerves. Collecting physical data…”
“Collection completed!”
“Entering the virtual world!”
w.a.n.g Teng’s vision turned black, and his world seemed to be spinning. The scene in front of him changed instantly.
There was emptiness all around him. Huge stars were circling in s.p.a.ce, and the Milky Way hung in the distance. It looked like a real universe.
“This…” w.a.n.g Teng was speechless. To be honest, he was mind-blown. He understood how powerful technology was now.
He lowered his head to take a look and noticed that he was floating. He touched his body and face. They undoubtedly felt real. Even his expression felt the same.
This feels so real!
Technology didn’t decline. Instead, there’s a huge leap?
The robotic voice sounded. “w.a.n.g Teng, nice to meet you. Welcome to the virtual world. Please choose your virtual landscape.”
Why does this voice sound like an AI? w.a.n.g Teng was stunned once again.
After the voice was heard, different landscapes appeared in front of him as though he was looking at the flowers while pa.s.sing on horseback. They flashed past hurriedly.
“I’ll choose the gra.s.sland!” w.a.n.g Teng casually chose one.
“The gra.s.sland location is confirmed. Please choose the difficulty level.”
There were five different difficulty levels: beginner stage, intermediate stage, advanced stage, nightmare, and even… h.e.l.l stage.
h.e.l.l stage is one level higher than the stage I challenged for the Jiugong stakes. I wonder how hard this will be. Shall I give it a try? It’s just virtual combat anyway.
w.a.n.g Teng made his decision immediately. “I choose the h.e.l.l stage!”
“h.e.l.l stage confirmed.”
“Please be prepared…”
“Enter!”
The image changed, along with the scene around him. w.a.n.g Teng immediately noticed that he was standing in the middle of a vast gra.s.sland.
The gra.s.s here was… as tall as a man!
This is a gra.s.sland? w.a.n.g Teng cursed instantly. Even the gra.s.ses on Earth that had been contaminated by Force weren’t as tall as this.
Was this the setting for h.e.l.l stage?
But, this is too real. It is no different from reality. If no one told me, I wouldn’t know that this is a virtual place.
w.a.n.g Teng was dumbfounded. But, this technology is a little advanced. Is Earth able to invent such things?
He wasn’t looking down on the humans on Earth. It was just that the technology didn’t match with reality. The difference was too vast.
He felt that Earth wouldn’t be able to create this device even if it advanced a hundred years ahead.
Never mind. I won’t understand no matter how hard I think.
Anyway, how do I play this? There are no instructions at all.
w.a.n.g Teng looked at the empty gra.s.sland and shook his head. He chose a direction and walked forward. In his heart, he remained vigilant, though.
No matter what, this was an actual combat a.s.sessment. He wasn’t here to play.