advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/Ritesh_Jadhav0869
Just as they were discussing passwords, they heard the shop owner scolding someone at the counter.
"How would I know your password, kid? What's the point of asking me?"
The two cousins turned and saw a boy of thirteen or fourteen standing in front of the owner, head bowed, looking miserable. "I forgot it. I thought you might have a record..."
"No record. Where would I find the time to write down everyone's password?"
"Then what should I do? I can't log in."
"Then just use facial recognition."
After filling out his information and completing facial recognition, Mike asked curiously, "Why do I need to set up an account and password? I get the account and password part—banks work the same way. But then there's facial recognition too. If facial recognition is possible, why not just use that directly?"
Cole explained, "The Illusionist posted about this on the Game Forum. He said it's for double security—like, to prevent twins from sharing an account. And if your appearance changes accidentally, like getting a scar on your face, you can apply to log in with just the account and password. But you can only apply three times a year, max."
"Why make it so strict? Who would care about an account that anyone can create for free? It's not like a bank where money is deposited."
"I don't know. Anyway, the Illusionist made it, so if you want to play games, you have to follow his rules."
"Oh. Alright."
After facial recognition, the account creation was complete.
Account: 160000 (reset password)
True Name: Mike of House Flamestrike
Nickname: Greedy Mike
Gender: Male
Age: 15 (detailed information)
Account Balance: 0 game coins (recharge)
Game Achievements:(detailed information)
Mike was about to ask what to do next when Cole exclaimed, "Holy cow! No way! Your account is incredible!"
Mike blinked. "Incredible? How?"
Cole pointed at the number. "This! 160000! It's such a round number—that means you're the sixty-thousandth person to register an account!"
"Oh." Mike tilted his head. "What's your account number?"
"123581. I was one of the earlier players to register." Cole sighed wistfully. "I heard account numbers start from 100001. Your true name, nickname, and this account number can all be used to log in. Facial recognition is mandatory, of course... But man, your numeric account is so easy to remember."
"Alright, what do I do next?" Mike felt nothing special about any of this.
"Obviously, you go to the game store and claim your games!"
"Oh? Claim games? You have to claim them?"
"It's a new player benefit. Every new account can claim three games for free." Cole's face twisted with envy. "Too bad one person can only create one account, otherwise..."
"Then what games should I claim?"
"Chronicle of Fierce Tortoise Warriors is a must. That game's the most expensive—five silver marks." Cole thought for a moment. "For the others, it depends on what you like. Right now, games can only be played solo. The old engraved runestones used to allow two people to play together. Sigh, I wonder if that's why they cut the price in half."
A notification popped up on screen:
"Welcome to 'Illusion Realm'! As you are the 60,000th member of Illusion Realm and a lucky player, you are hereby rewarded with all games except Super Street Fighter."
"Huh." Mike frowned. "There's no prompt to select games?"
Silence.
After a long moment without a reply, Mike turned to look at Cole.
His cousin's face was contorted into something unrecognizable.
"What's wrong?" Mike asked with concern.
"Jealousy has disfigured me..."
"What should I do now?"
"First... check 'My Games'?"
"Oh. Where do I check that?"
"What do you mean 'where'? It's this—this icon that says 'My Games.' Double-click it..." Cole's voice cracked. "You even have the newly released games! Ah ah ah ah! AH AH AH AH AH AH!"
In the list of purchased games, thirteen titles were quietly displayed:
Chess(free game included)
Elemental Contra
Tank Battle
Super Mario
Salamander
Chronicle of Fierce Tortoise Warriors
Crimson Fortress
Squirrel War
Total Recall
MapleStory
Snow Bros
Bomberman
Elemental Contra II(Super Contra version—starts with jumping out of a helicopter)
Indeed, all games except Super Street Fighter were there, all marked as purchased.
Having finished being jealous, Cole thought about the bright side: as long as his cousin logged in, he could also play the games on his cousin's list. With that silver lining, he quickly adjusted his mindset and continued guiding Mike on how to operate.
"Now, choose the games you like, download them, and then you can play."
"I don't know how to choose. Which one do you like?"
"My favorite is Elemental Contra, obviously. That was also the first game released."
"Oh. Then I'll play that too."
"See 'Download Game' on the right? Click it..." Cole watched the screen. "It's downloaded. You can play now. The Illusionist even said on the Forum that the console's download speed is really slow—but that took like three seconds. Where's the slow part?"
Watching his cousin enter the game, Cole enthusiastically taught him how to play.
After Mike played a few rounds and got into the rhythm, Cole stood behind him, watching and occasionally offering pointers.
"Don't go forward here—you'll get electrocuted. You won't die, but getting shocked causes a one-second paralysis where you can't move. Makes it easy for enemies to kill you."
"...You're asking me why there's electricity here?"
"...You're also asking what kind of magical principle this is? How would I know? Just play your game. Why do you have so many questions?"
"..."
"Jump up! Just jump up! Don't fall down—you'll die if you fall!"
"You're asking me where so many stones come from in such a small place? I don't know, just don't get hit by them."
"What? How would I know where the person controlling these two fireballs is? Just jump up! If there are enemies, kill them! Please stop asking so many questions, okay?"
"Mike, do you know how annoying you are?"
While guiding and complaining, Cole was interrupted by the shop owner shouting, "Machine eighteen! Time's up! Get off!"
The boy to their right reluctantly stood up but didn't dare argue. He silently shut down the machine and left.
"Machine eighteen is open! Anyone want to play? Anyone?" the owner called out.
No one responded. The shop was full of people standing around watching others play. After all, not everyone could casually spend one silver mark for an hour of gaming.
Cole looked at the empty seat next to them. Then at his cousin, who was playing enthusiastically. Then, with a shameless expression, he leaned over.
"Mike... look. You borrowed three silver marks from me, and now you're the only one playing..."
Mike didn't even look up. "I'll pay you back after I finish this game."
"No, what I mean is... do you have any money left? There's an empty seat next to us."
Mike glanced over, pressed pause, then pulled three silver marks from his pocket and handed them to Cole.
Then the two of them teamed up and started playing together.
"How am I already out of lives?"
"Everyone gets thirty lives. Once they're gone, that's it."
"I feel like I've died more than thirty times..."
"That's because you borrowed my lives. All of my lives have been borrowed by you..."
"It would be great if we could have unlimited lives. I really want to see what the later stages look like."
"The arcade version—that is, the old runestone tablets—used to have unlimited lives for a while. But later the Illusionist said games should be challenging, and unlimited lives would make them boring. So he changed it back." Cole shrugged. "We're on easy mode. Thirty lives should be enough. You know, someone on the Forum said that in the very beginning, without using the Secret Code, there were only five lives."
"Secret Code?"
"Ah, that's a long story. You can check the Game Forum if you have time. Anyway, this Illusionist is always changing things..."