NOVEL WEB Chapter 19: Anything is Possible
Looking at the players sitting cross-legged on the floor, deep in meditation, Victor pondered his gains from this venture. Now that the players had all logged out, he was left alone in this academy with a fairly frail fairy… Not that these players would enhance the academy’s security anyway.
“Earth… huh.” A melancholic and longing expression formed on Victor’s face as he chewed these words. “Aah… How good would it be if I could go back to Earth, too?”
He was being honest with himself. Compared to endangering himself in this world, if he could hide his real body in another world, he would be more than willing to do so. There were precedents where high-ranking Magi conquered small planes to hide their real bodies and explore the world with their avatars.
“—You can.” Suddenly, a spirited voice interrupted his train of thought.
“Yeah, it’s nothing but impossi— Huh?!” Victor turned his head toward a floating fairy beside him — Lizbeth — who had appeared out of nowhere. Did she just…
“You haven’t misheard; you, in fact, can.” She stressed each syllable. “As long as you can create a magic ship capable of traversing the dangers lurking in the depths of the astral space — such as dimensional rifts and eldritch monsters — or have a strong enough physical body, then it’s not completely impossible. Earth itself exists in a different dimension than this one, but that only makes things a bit harder. After all, we have the coordinates.”
“Seriously?!” Victor’s tone carried a trace of excitement mixed with disbelief.
Lizbeth, seeing her master’s spirits lift, perched on his shoulder. “Seriously.”
Victor couldn’t help but entertain the thought of returning. However, he quickly realized that such solutions were ultimately unfeasible.
First of all, the idea of creating a magic ship capable of traversing dimensions was a monumental task. The cost of such an undertaking would be so astronomically high that even if he sold the academy and himself into slavery ten times over, it would be far from enough.
Secondly, by going with the second option, he would only gain the ability to withstand the harsh conditions outside Seraphia once he reached the rank of Nexus Temporal. However, even at that rank, he wouldn’t be able to go to nearby planes and would be limited to the peripheral space of Seraphia. Only powerful Sigil Conversion Magi and above possessed the qualifications to travel far with their physical bodies alone — which might take decades at the very least without additional methods.
Thirdly, embarking on a prolonged voyage would pose a dangerous risk to the academy. With him being away, the academy would be vulnerable to attacks or disasters, potentially leading to its destruction and jeopardizing his life.
While there might be other solutions, such as utilizing a nexus gate or an extremely large far-distance teleportation formation, the reality was that these methods could only be executed if someone had already explored and established connections with the desired plane or world. Typically, Magi would mark the coordinates of a plane they discovered and construct a nexus gate as an anchor point on the other side. So, even if Victor had the coordinates, there was a high chance that he would end up in an entirely different location, especially considering the complexities of dealing with other dimensions.
All in all, as enticing as the idea of returning to Earth was, the obstacles and risks were too great to overcome any time soon.
“Speaking of different worlds… I wonder, can they remain in this world forever?” Victor inquired, voicing the other question that had been nagging at him.
If it was possible to establish connections to this world without any lag whatsoever, then what about staying here forever? Victor presumed it wouldn’t be implausible, and Lizbeth’s answer seemed to confirm his suspicion.
“They can.” Lizbeth gave Victor a knowing smile. “The gaming capsule has the means to upload their minds and let them stay inside their alternate bodies forever.”
Victor nodded, finding the idea worth taking note of in the future. “As I thought. But what would happen to their bodies on Earth?”
Lizbeth shrugged her shoulders, her mischievous grin never leaving her face. “Well, they will be dead, of course. What do you expect to happen? Remain alive like undead?”
Victor gave a self-deprecating smile to Lizbeth’s straightforward response. Indeed, it always came with a somewhat permanent consequence, fundamentally a one-way ticket. Guess if this ever becomes a choice, it will be up for the players to choose… though I wouldn’t mind trapping them here if the need ever arises.
Still, it wasn’t without consequences. Leaving corpses inside the gaming capsule would undoubtedly draw attention. If the authorities on Earth caught wind of this, then his VR game would be banned and closed down. He could already picture the news headlines the next day: “Dangerous Game! Many Died While Playing… But Found Alive Inside a Video Game?!” and the news reporter’s dramatic voice narrating the whole incident.
Victor shook his head, dismissing the absurdity of it all. As much as he wanted to let the players stay in this world forever and help him in his cause, he definitely didn’t want it to come with a side of real-life chaos and media attention. It would also erase one of their unique abilities: being able to revive indefinitely.
Staying in the game forever? Fun in theory, but the consequences? Not so much.
“Still…” Victor pondered, looking at the player named SuperNova. “That one player reminds me of something. Is it possible for these players to be brainwashed by high-ranking Magi? Like using mind-reading spells like {Mindscour}?”
Lizbeth pondered for a moment before responding, “Probably.”
“Why the uncertainty?”
“You do realize that Magi have the strangest spells for the strangest purposes… There is no guarantee that anything is impossible.”
Victor scratched his head, considering the possibilities. He didn’t want to be an overprotective headmaster, but if one of the players encountered an evil high-ranking Magus who mastered those forbidden spells, curses, or even hexes, death would be the least of their concerns. Being tortured by such a being would be worse than hell. This didn’t include the fact that his secrets might be revealed…
“Well, let’s hope it never comes to that,” Victor muttered with a half-hearted smile. “Anyhow, we’ll cross that bridge if we ever come to it.” He would only worry about that when it became necessary.
Well, there is no gain without risk; they’ll be thanking me later. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Shaking his head, Victor said, “Whatever the case, this is beyond me at this point in time. Let’s go back to the bedroom.”
“Mhm! Low key is the key here. Pun intended.” Lizbeth closed her tiny mouth with both of her hands, trying to hold back her laughter.
“Well, that’s funny. Your sense of humor is improving.” Victor snickered lightly at the wordplay, feeling a bit of fatigue setting in.
“’Course it is! I’ve been practicing!” She hit her chest pridefully.
It was such an exhausting day for him, but he still had something to do before taking a good night’s rest, and that was to practice his daily meditation…
***
Early in the morning on Earth, the Gamer’s Empire Discord server was already buzzing with activity. The server owner, ZeroXScyth, made an unexpected announcement, drawing even the lurkers out from their dens.
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “Dudes! This game is awesome! If this doesn’t become as popular— No, more popular than Minecraft and Roblox at their peak, I’ll do the chicken dance in the middle of the mall naked!”
Locktekei: “Huh? That’s unlike you to be so overly dramatic.”
Squadzell: “@ZeroXScyth I haven’t seen you or the administrators all night. I thought you were arrested for doing something illegal. If you know what I mean… (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”
ThunderLord999: “What game are you talking about? Why haven’t I heard of this game before? :blobcatconfused:”
Locktekei: “Have you been living under a rock? We've been spamming this channel with messages since like two days ago!”
ThunderLord999: “Welp, I was recovering from my surgery, so I haven’t had the chance to open Discord…”
Locktekei: “Oof, sorry to hear that.”
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “(2). It’s a fully immersive virtual reality game that Cyber Warlock sent to the group yesterday called Magus Academy Online. Here, I will pin the message.”
ThunderLord999: “Aight, thanks!”
Princess_Tomato: “Wait, so the game’s real?! It’s not a hoax? Can you show us some screenshots or something?”
Squadzell: “Shoot! So have you tried the game? What’s it like?”
Locktekei: “Yeah! Hurry up and tell us! What exactly is a fully immersive VR game like? Can I play it on my Oculus Rift 2?”
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “Absolutely real! I’ve tried it, and it’s mind-blowing. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t show you any proof; the console doesn’t have in-game recording nor screenshot features yet. And Locktekei, my friend, you want to play it on that old-school head-mounted screen? Hahaha! Keep dreaming! Here, we use a gaming capsule with a VR helmet inside, just like those popular in Korean novels of old.”
Locktekei: “Man, seriously?! 🤯 🤯 🤯”
Noobzilla: “No proof means it’s a hoax. @ZeroXScyth Maybe you should touch some grass and stop daydreaming.”
Squadzell: “Hey, don’t be rude!”
Noobzilla: “I’m just trying to make my point here. Don’t you think it’s weird that a fully immersive VR game exists in 2026? Even from the most optimistic estimate, it would take dozens of years for that. And if it truly does exist, why haven't I heard the media cover anything about it?”
It was at this moment that Storm Bringer — the herald of updates and strategies — appeared on the server and offered his input. Quelling any lingering doubts about the game’s existence.
Storm Bringer (Administrator): “What Zero said is absolutely true; I can vouch for its authenticity. And just to further solidify his claims, feast your eyes on these photos of the gaming capsule I took with my phone.”
A series of images depicting the intricate gaming capsule were shared by Storm, effectively silencing the naysayers. The revelation also ignited a spark of intrigue among the active members of the server.
Storm Bringer (Administrator): “Observe closely. The gaming capsule’s design includes no ports or connections for external devices, which means data transmission occurs wirelessly. The catch is, we can only access the game itself without any other external features. In fact, the helmet itself is detachable from the gaming capsule and can still be turned on, so I suspect that there’s a private network used by the consoles that’s apart from the one we used. These images are my proof for now, and it’s entirely up to you to decide whether you believe me or not. Dang it! If I could stream the game on my channel, it would go viral in no time!”
Locktekei: “Whoa! You’re right! It looks so cutting edge that my Oculus feels like a relic in comparison… ☹”
Storm Bringer (Administrator): “Indeed, having spent considerable time immersed in it, I’ve managed to compile a fair amount of insights about this game. Zero, could you create a restricted category and channel where only those with administrator privileges and above can converse? But on second thought, I think it’s better to make a customized role for the five of us… and for Cyber as well, I guess.”
ZeroXScyth (Server Owner): “Sure. Hang on a sec.”
Aside from his identity as a streamer, Storm Bringer had a stellar reputation. He was once one of the finest DOTA players and ranked in the top 100 in Valorant. Although he wasn’t a hardcore RPG gamer like Mike, his prowess for competitive games was a subject of admiration throughout the server. His aptitude for game critique was equally renowned.
This man played games every day, barely scraping a living from his streaming job and his investments in stocks. His presence extended beyond multiplayer online games; he was also a fixture within speedrun communities — faithfully streaming his exploits. His accomplishments formed a gallery of impressive masterpieces, and numerous server members had benefited from learning his strategies. Without a doubt, he was a full-time game player.
Thus, the server members found themselves compelled to listen to what he had to say about the game. Excitement and curiosity spread among them, igniting a fervor of anticipation for the uncharted realms of the immersive virtual reality game…