Isabel started renovating the underground space about a year ago.
It was a long-term project she had put considerable effort into: installing “that” in the empty underground space.
Aside from Isabel, only her right-hand woman and secretary Hana, the construction workers, and Max, who oversaw the whole operation, knew about it.
It was a secret project, so clandestine that even the executives at Brown Mart were completely in the dark, with only Hana aware of it.
However, Max, the site manager, became increasingly serious as the project progressed.
Who is Isabel? She’s a renowned tycoon and entrepreneur, an icon of innovation and change. Even someone like Max, who usually doesn’t care much about the world, knew her name well—after all, the very supermarket he frequented every week was owned by her.
The construction itself wasn’t vastly different from your typical site: installing “something” in the underground and pulling in the necessary power to operate it.
But Max believed there was something special about it all. After all, it was a covert project initiated by Isabel.
Surely this construction was the groundwork for a new innovation she would announce in the future, and when that day came, he’d be toasting with his friends, bragging that he was the one who oversaw it…
But then, the words he heard from Isabel after the construction wrapped up brought him back to reality.
“Huh? No way!”
“Excuse me?”
“This is just my personal project. It’s not a public endeavor.”
Max realized he had totally misread the situation.
He asked, dizzy from the shock, “But, but… the scale of the construction is massive! You’ve renovated this huge underground complex…”
“Well, I have more money than I can ever spend, so provided my offspring don’t do anything silly, I’ve earned enough to keep them fed and happy. So I don’t mind spending this much on a hobby.”
“A hobby, you say…”
It finally dawned on Max what kind of person Isabel really was.
She’s a tycoon. A genuine rich person. Dining on steak sprinkled with gold leaf and heading off on luxurious yacht trips on weekends, with rooms in her mansion larger than Max’s entire house…
“Well, at least I’m fairly normal for a rich person. Better than getting caught up in drug-fueled orgies, right?”
“That’s true.”
Max, now satisfied, responded but couldn’t help but ask with curiosity.
“So, can I ask why you made this place?”
“Um, I wanted to show it off as a gift to a friend.”
“A gift?”
“Yeah, kind of like a secret base vibe. I even left ‘that’ in the center.”
Well, that was true. The scale was massive for a gift, but if Max received something like this, he’d probably faint in surprise.
Isabel was already starting to feel jealous of whoever that friend was.
Surveying the completed underground space, Isabel murmured with a satisfied expression,
“I can’t wait to see their reaction.”
*
“Wow, wow! Wow!”
Kayak bounced around the underground space like a child, cheering with delight. Isabel couldn’t help but smile at the innocent reaction. It made her feel like the year of hard work hadn’t been in vain.
The empty underground area had been transformed into a secret base, and in the center was ‘that’—the surprise gift Isabel had prepared for Kayak. She was most curious about how Kayak would react upon discovering ‘that’.
“This is…!”
Finally spotting ‘that’ in the center, Kayak let out a chirpy sound.
Yes, that’s it. That’s the one. As she felt a rush of excitement seeing such a great reaction, Isabel’s lips shot up toward the sky.
“A Camilla statue!”
Wait, what?
Isabel suddenly felt something freeze inside her. It turned out she had been focusing more on the smaller decorative statues behind ‘that’ rather than the main dish in the center.
Kayak was staring wide-eyed at those little ornaments, completely missing the highlight of the space.
Thinking this could go on forever, Isabel let out a small sigh and took a step forward. It seemed she had to explain directly.
“That’s not it, Kayak.”
“Huh?”
“Put down the statue and look at this.”
Isabel forcibly turned Kayak’s head away from the Camilla statue. Finally, ‘that’ caught Kayak’s eye.
It was a cylindrical machine that looked like an MRI device used in hospitals for brain scans.
“What is this…?”
Kayak looked at Isabel with curious eyes, waiting for an explanation.
“It’s still not officially named, but I temporarily called it a capsule.”
“A capsule?”
“Maybe you’ll understand if I say it’s a VR device?”
(OㅇO!!)
Kayak’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened in surprise.
Words like “No way—” were spilling out of her open mouth.
“If it’s VR…”
“It’s a virtual reality device. It shows a world just like real reality, but only for the person wearing the equipment.”
“No, what I want to ask isn’t that—.”
Just by looking, it was clear this equipment was something special. The surface of the device gleamed wonderfully, as it was a new gadget, and both Isabel’s Brown Company logo and the logo of the world-renowned game company High-End were embossed together.
If Kayak had a good sense, she would have figured out why Isabel had called her here to show her such a device.
Isabel’s surprise gift, something related to Kayak, was something she had prepared with great care.
“You can play Abyss with this. It’s still in beta, but there’s a plan to announce it in the market in a year or two.”
“I love you, Isabel!”
Kayak dove into Isabel’s arms.
*
Indeed, people need money to see things.
I reflect on myself, having pretended to gain enlightenment that true happiness is not bound by money, just because I’ve made some money lately.
Money is the best! Long live Isabel! Long live Brown Mart!
“Um, don’t get too caught up in a golden-age mentality.”
Isabel muttered tiredly beside me, but it couldn’t be helped.
To achieve the ideal and dream one envisions, money is essential.
I too had dreamed of playing Abyss through VR devices, but I had simply brushed it off as a dream.
I thought someone would create it naturally over ten or twenty years, without ever thinking I might do it myself.
But Isabel was different. She went ahead and developed a VR device for me, even though she wasn’t playing Abyss.
Is this what it truly means to be a CEO? Truly the icon of innovation. Isabel, the genius who pierces through the times.
Belda War.
“Isabel! Isabel! Isabel! Isabel! Isabel!”
“C-Come on… It’s embarrassing… I just made it for fun with leftover money anyway…”
“How much is that leftover money, though?”
I nodded seriously at the vague figure of the ‘leftover money’ I’d received.
Indeed, money is the best.
“Isabel! Isabel! Isabel! Isabel! The world’s greatest asset manager Isabel! The world’s greatest lesbian Isabel! The world’s greatest CEO Isabel! The world’s greatest genius Isabel!”
“Aren’t you getting a bit too excited…?”
Isabel, rarely flushed, blushed at me constantly chanting her name.
So, even you, Isabel, were a fake madwoman. Getting embarrassed when receiving compliments… In front of my true love for the Abyss, Isabel seemed a bit deflated.
“Anyway, I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it! Totally!”
“Then I’ll teach you how to use it from now on.”
The usage was simple. You step into the capsule, wear a motorcycle helmet-like device, put a necklace around your neck, and a ring on your finger and you’re all set.
In that state, you just touch the panel on the left side of the helmet, and you can immediately dive into the VR world.
While listening to the explanation, I couldn’t contain my excitement and asked Isabel for confirmation.
“Um, you’re not planning to connect the helmet directly to my brain so that I can’t exit without your consent, or make it a death game where dying in the game means brain destruction in reality, right? Or brainwash me by controlling my brain?”
“…Sorry. I didn’t really understand what you said. Could you say it again?”
It seemed those kinds of functions didn’t exist. Well, they did say it was still in beta testing. Even if they wanted to include such detailed features, they probably couldn’t.
Even with these high expectations, if I actually entered the game, it might not meet my hopes. The realism could be a bit lacking, or the heroes might have glitchy graphics…
It wouldn’t be weird for many bugs and issues to arise, so I tried to lower my expectations as much as I could and finished my preparations.
“Alright, activating now!”
“Yeah, yeah, since the pre-tests are all done, you can relax. I’ll wake you up in two hours, so have fun!”
“Okay!”
With a warm smile like a mother, Isabel closed the capsule lid.
And I sank into the black screen.
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