4.1. Compatibility Failure - Part 1

Compatibility: 87%

I feel my avatar's virtual body again but it's a weird experience. I have my wings, of course, but they don't feel that real to me anymore. I try stretching them and they respond nicely but the sensation is rather dreamy.

Is this how VR is like to normal players? What the hell happened? I've never heard of any cases of people's immersion ability going down as it can only go up based on how many hours a player's brain spent connected. The brain gradually adapts, it's a proven fact. It can get stuck at a certain level when one's mind reaches its limit but never decrease.

Then I realise another thing which makes me shiver. My telepathy... it's still on. A bit clouded, but I feel emotions that aren't my own. How is that possible? Shocked, I look around but I'm alone in the royal office. Is it coming through the walls? It seems ridiculous that I'd be able to perceive other people's emotions in VR when their real bodies are often thousands of kilometres away but I need to make sure.

I check the map of the palace. With my administrative rights, I can actually see players who have permission to be here as little dots. The royal palace is basically a guild house and I'm just a glorified guild master, after all.

I can see a few dots that represent guild members quite near me so I try focusing on them. I get nothing specific, though. What I feel comes from a totally different direction. No, it's just not possible to feel other people's emotions here. Players are connected from all over the world. Sure, my telepathy got stronger just a couple of hours ago but it's still impossible.

Then it hits me. I can identify these emotions! They are familiar, belonging to my neighbours. Somehow... I can still feel telepathic waves from the real world. It's a vague mixture which unnerves me. I'm used to either feeling everything and assigning it to specific people or nothing at all in VR.

Is it because my immersion ability dropped? With 87% immersion, it would mean that my brain is still 13% in the real world. Normally, people shouldn't feel any difference because they don't possess extrasensory abilities. But I do. A huge difference. Could my helmet be simply malfunctioning? Please, let it be the case!

Liana's avatar materialises just two minutes after me.

"H-hi," I say, startled a little. It's weird to feel other people's emotions but not from the person in front of me. I'm suddenly unsure how to talk to her.

"Are you okay?" she notices something's off about me right away.

Should I tell her? I can't mention telepathy, but...

"Just tired," I decide to lie. "Do I play too much, Li? How many hours do you play?"

"Usually around six at workdays," she says and is looking at me with suspicion as I've never doubted my gaming habits before.

"That's not that different from me when I'm at school, hmm..."

Liana is eyeing me analytically.

"You don't look comfortable," she summarises. "I don't want to preach but it's never a good idea to ignore your body and play when you're sick in real life."

I need to tell her at least something or I'll go crazy.

"No, I don't have flu or anything like that but lately... I don't feel well-rested after gaming and my back is sore," I confide.

Her expression changes.

"I also feel really tired recently," she admits.

"Do you think there might be something wrong with our VR helmets?" I suggest.

"It's possible that they're trying something new with the upcoming update, but..."

Our debate is interrupted by Fefnir's message asking me what the hell is taking us so long.

"Let's go, we can test our helmets when playing," Liana proposes so we teleport to the dungeon's entrance.

I see Gotrid already fully equipped in his battle mage armour. At first glance he seems a bit uneasy but then he notices me and beams.

"Your Highness, good evening," he bows to me theatrically. I wonder why he looked troubled just a second ago. Damn, now I could really use my telepathy.

"A new seraph that one, huh?" Fefnir asks me, sitting on the rock and sharpening his sword. He's a bulky Dragonkin wearing armour we Celestials wouldn't be able to move even an inch.

"Gotrid, Fefnir is our tank and physical defence," I force myself to act cheerful and introduce my old gaming buddy. "He's level 80, a warrior class and one of the best tanks in the game. It would be better to have an Earthborn for a healer but no such luck this time so I guess I'll pose as a cleric."

"You won't attack?" Gotrid is confused. "Your damage must be ridiculously high."

"It would be a total overkill," Fefnir says while materialising his favourite helmet out of the inventory and putting it on. "This is one of the hardest dungeons, sure, but we're all veterans. If Aefener attacks as well, it won't be a challenge."

"Don't worry, I actually like healing," I smile. "I can't do antidotes and debuffs like an Earthborn but my healing skill is unrivalled."

"Which active spells do you have then?" Gotrid is curious. "I've always taken you for a pure magic damager."

"All of them," I say truthfully.

"Wh-...?" Gotrid is speechless. "But that's impossible!"

"The system allows it," I remind him. "If you don't choose a class, spell tiers won't get blocked."

"Yes, in theory. You'd have to know all the spells by heart without the system's assistance," he opposes. "And without a class, you don't get perks."

"I prefer a clever combination of various skills and having all elements at my disposal," I explain. "I can make up for not having class perks that way."

Gotrid gasps. Fefnir puts a hand on his shoulder and says: "People like Aefener have no real life and spend all time ingame. Don't be impressed."

"I do go to school!" I oppose, offended. "And this is actually my work."

"Well, I can confirm that he certainly isn't online all day," Liana verifies. "He's just a natural talent at gaming I guess."

"I don't know about that, I did train a lot," I say. "I spent countless hours studying the Celestial magic system, practicing mana channelling and chaining skills one after another."

"Spellcasting for sure, but flying is like breathing to you. Aefener is the only Celestial who managed to fly on the very first day when the game launched," Liana pokes me. "Developers were astonished; they predicted that a player's brain wouldn't adapt for at least several weeks."

For a moment I forgot about my pressing problem. The brain is supposed to be adapting. And now it seems my brain might have lost some of that adaptation. Or could my levelled-up telepathy be interfering? But how come Liana also doesn't feel quite alright? I hope playing the game will tell me something. If my compatibility level really decreased, it should make me a less effective player.

"L-let's do a formation and proceed," I cough. "Fefnir to the front line..."

"What about equipping something more suitable?" Fefnir points out. "You can't raid a dungeon in a dress, angels."

"Oh, right," I realise that me and Liana are still wearing royal attires. They're very expensive and rare but only decorative. Fortunately, equipping our battle gear from the inventory takes only a few seconds.

I'm a bit worried about Gotrid because he isn't used to our style of fighting but him having level 60 means at least three years of gaming experience and I relax when he defeats a level 70 monster on his own.

There's something off, though. We all feel it. We proceed quite successfully but we're not in sync. Fefnir is slow with his aggros, Liana isn't effective with her mana consumption during spellcasting and Gotrid seems a bit unfocused.

My healing can't keep up with all these mistakes that cumulate and I'm also majorly distracted by leaking emotions from the real world. We make it in the end but if I was streaming our endeavour, I'd be deeply ashamed by such performance.

"Well, that was a weird run," Fefnir snorts and kicks the dead Skeleton King.

"Sorry, I just feel weird, to be honest," I sit on the ground as I've lost all interest in the treasure chest that appeared in front of us as a reward. I'm suddenly dead tired, something's definitely off. And I bet for them as well.

I breathe in deeply and say: "I think there's something wrong with my helmet. My immersion level... ehm... it dropped. The game feels dreamy to me, I can't focus properly."

"WAIT A MINUTE!"