White Online

"Hmm?" Niko opened his eyes while feeling a strange sensation around his body. Whenever he tried to move his toes or fingers, they felt stiff, and every step he took seemed tedious to him.

"Damn, is the training helmet fucking Bronze?" He already felt like this was a waste of time. While he and his friends have the skill required to become Top Players in White Online, their real-life responsibilities are keeping them from reaching their full potential.

Whoosh!

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Niko's stiff neck flexed as he spotted a flying projectile bearing down on him!

A slight tilt of the head was all he needed to dodge it without wasting any time. Nevertheless, the maneuver did not seem flawless when doing so. Rather, it was as though someone was pulling his head, forcing him back, and trying to prevent him from actually dodging.

It was a bullet that was shot in the air but did not hit the target and vanished upon missing it. It was not long after that another bullet flew from the empty space, and this time it was traveling a bit faster.

In the second shot, Niko took a step back, and the bullet just missed him by a hair, "Is this what we have to do? Dodge until we die. What a waste of time."

Suddenly, the roof began to crack, and a dozen arrows crashed through the ceiling.

A few bloody scratches appeared around the thighs of Niko as he moved out of the way, having to weave through a few arrows. His body's reaction time was delayed by one second as a result of the stiff movements.

"Fuck this!" He screamed toward anyone who was listening. His personal VR Helmet was Gold Ranked. This was the product that he had spent his hard-earned money on, and he had never regretted it even once.

Having battled with Bronze Helmet for some time, now he was thankful that he had Gold instead of this piece of shit, making every movement of his body worse with every passing minute.

Then, he was swallowed up by the ground when it suddenly opened up and swallowed him whole. While his mind felt like it was swimming, whenever he opened his hazy eyes, all he could see was a misty blackness.

Later, the vision changed, and he saw the smiling face of the teacher.

"How was it?" He asked with crossed arms.

"It was fucking bullshit!" Niko grabbed the helmet off his head and tossed it at the teacher, who caught it with a clumsy catch.

"What fucking use is to keep dodging with joints as stiff as rocks!"

Niko stomped back to his friends who were making fun of him, sarcastically acknowledging their laughs.

The teacher placed the helmet around his head and smiled, "Watch me."

Suddenly, his body ceased to move, and, as a result, his consciousness was transferred to the training avatar.

All the students crossed their arms, watching the TV with curiosity in their eyes.

"Hmph." Niko snorted and crossed his legs as his eyelids grew shut. After playing all night, he had already become tired, and he felt the need to take a quick nap.

…

"Whew..." The teacher let out a breath and opened his eyes with a vivid vision of a transparent room flashing before his eyes.

As he looked up, several bullets flew in various directions, ripping through the air as they passed.

During a step forward, the teacher was just a bit more than a few millimeters from both shots passing through his head. His nose was almost scratched by the shell on the bridge of his nose. There was barely any room for the spare.

Suddenly, the ceiling fell apart, and a dozen arrows shot down from above.

The teacher lunged forward, and the arrows shot into the ground behind him. As he spun and focused his attention on the floor, several blades flew across the room, each one sharp enough to slice right through him.

Putting his arms in front, his joints were stiff, and his movements were crude. In the end, he managed to take control of the swords with the hilts by grasping them masterfully.

The impact rocked his body enough to cause his feet to slide a little backward as well.

Then, he spun the swords around him. As a result, the arrows were divided in half with each swing of the swords.

At this point, the ground opened up and tried to consume him whole. As the teacher rose into the air, he strained his bones while moving the swords in order to block the incoming bullets.

Despite his efforts, one bullet passed his guard and pierced his waist.

"Ugh!" He coughed out blood and fell to the hole in the floor. When he was swallowed up by the hole in the floor, he coughed up blood again.

…

"Ugh!" The teacher began coughing without stopping. After that, he took out the helmet, gently placed it on the desk, and looked at the students with an exhausted look on his face.

Students had their mouths agape, accompanied by the looks of shock that were visible in their youthful eyes.

Niko's eyes were wide open, the sleepiness was long gone, and even his friends were silent.

"Well…" The teacher wiped his drool off and stood up, "This is what I try to teach you all… The movement is the most important part of any fighting game. It improves your strength and also chances of survival."

"If we used Gold Helmet as training… It won't help any of you. It might even be harmful because not all of you have Gold Helmet to rely on, and it won't be as effective."

"Bronze Helmet, however… Is incredibly useful." He smiled.

"I think… Arthur is as great as people say him to be… I don't think he made Bronze Helmet so that others would be more desperate to buy better helmets… Instead, this helmet was made for training."

"If someone used this helmet to train… Let's say, for example, one week, then when they change to better helmet, their stats must be way higher than it shows."

"Now… Are you guys willing to be taught?" The teacher asked, and the students unanimously nodded with a clear desire to grow strong.

The teacher smiled and said, "Alright then, who is next?"

Everyone in the room raised their arms, even Marvin and his friends.

The rest of the class continued with their training, and many of them didn't make it past their first bullet, while Marvin survived the floor swallowing before succumbing to his injuries shortly afterward.

There was a lot of enthusiasm in the air after the class was over, and the students whispered excitedly with each other. They enjoyed the class. Marvin, and others did as well.

When they stepped outside of the school building, the snow crunched under their weight and iced up on the ground.

"That was quite… Unexpected experience." Derek said.

Others nodded.

"That teacher… Is strong." Lionel said with a serious look, "White Online isn't his first rodeo, and he must have been a fighter when he was young."

"Well, doesn't matter for now. But I am kinda interested in buying Bronze Helmet now. I can already feel my movements being sharper after one class." Marvin said.

"Yeah, I hope they are still selling…"