All three of them were getting ready to enter the gaming capsules. Zon stood next to Lin and quickly explained the basic functions and modes in the game Arsenal:
"In short, when you enter the game, you'll be asked to create an account — that will be your profile. It'll store all your stats: how many battles you've won, how many times you've lost, your primary weapon, and various in-game cosmetic items like: weapon skins, special effects, and other things."
"But those things aren't necessary, and they don't affect gameplay. They're just status symbols to show others that you have money..." Zon patiently explained everything to Lin.
Lin nodded several times and asked Zon:
"And do you have those things?"
"..."
"Well, I bought a few of them, since they looked pretty unique. And besides, they won't be available again..." Zon scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly.
Lin smirked and waved for Zon to continue:
"So anyway. After creating the account, you'll see the main menu, where there are sections with a lot of different options. I think you'll be able to find the battle section and choose from a large number of modes whichever one you like. After that, you start fighting."
"It doesn't matter how you kill your opponent. The main goal of the battle is to kill, and how you get there — no one cares. Well, at least, that's how we do it." Zon shrugged and explained.
Lin nodded and looked at Nal, who had finally arrived. He smiled brightly and said:
"Boss Lin! I'm ready to enter Arsenal! You should try out a few modes first, and once you understand how to play, we'll have a match!" He laughed and opened one of the gaming capsules, carefully stepping inside. He looked at Zon and said:
"While Boss Lin is learning how to play, I'm challenging you to a duel, Zon!" With those words, he quickly closed the capsule and entered the game.
Zon smirked and also began entering his gaming capsule. He looked at Lin and gave a thumbs up:
"Good luck, Boss Lin. I'm going to kick Nal's butt!" He closed the capsule and entered the game.
Lin watched all this and smiled. He approached the beautiful gaming capsule and slowly opened it. Once it opened, he stepped inside and closed it.
Lin felt his whole body being covered by something. When it ended, Lin briefly closed his eyes and opened them again — and now, he found himself in a completely dark space, resembling the cosmos. After a while, a white window appeared before his eyes, reading:
[Welcome to all new users of our wonderful game: "Arsenal"!]
[New user, register and enter this game to experience unforgettable emotions from fighting or watching battles!]
When the white window disappeared, a new one appeared in front of Lin, where he needed to enter his data to register and enter the game.
Just as Zon had taught him, Lin quickly entered everything, and then a new window opened, allowing him to create a nickname:
[User: Nil Xirtam successfully registered! Now you must create a nickname under which you will write your story in Arsenal!]
[...]
Seeing the nickname input window, Lin paused for a moment and entered:
[Excellent! Welcome, new player: Neo!]
He came up with that name quickly because it was easy to read and remember. He didn't want to invent a complicated name and waste more time here. He was ready to fight!
[Neo, please wait a few seconds while the game loads.]
[5%]
[7%]
[10%]
...
[97%]
[99%]
"Finally," Lin looked at the white window and smiled.
[99.9999%]
"..."
[100%]
[Excellent! Neo, you have successfully entered Arsenal!]
[If you need anything, simply say: "Help", and an advanced assistant will immediately appear to explain all the important aspects of Arsenal to you. Now good luck on your journey to becoming a great warrior!]
Lin exhaled in relief. He had finally managed to enter the game, and now it was his turn to fight and see if he could learn something here or at least get some training.
A large white panel opened before Lin, displaying numerous sections: "News", "Inventory", "Shop", "Watch", "Fight", "Clan", and many other sections with various functions. But Lin was interested only in fighting, so he quickly pressed the largest button: "Fight", and even more tabs appeared before him:
"Solo Battles", "Clan Battles(Unavailable)", "Tournament Battles(Unavailable)", "Open Worlds", "Team Battles" — these were the main modes that were always present, but there were also temporary modes. Lin looked at them too:
"Zombie Mode(ends in 14 days)", "Lone Hunter(ends in 6 days)", "Hide and Seek(ends in 7 days)", "Find the Traitor(ends in 3 days)", "Battle Royale(ends in 50 days)".
Looking at the temporary modes, Lin felt some interest, but held himself back from entering one. After all, he needed to first check out the main modes and understand how to play the game. Once he figured everything out, then he could try one of them.
"Solo Battles... I'll start with those and see what they're like," he pressed the Solo Battles button, and the panel before him immediately changed. Two options appeared:
[Choose the type of weapon you will fight with: "Firearms" or "Melee Weapons".]
Without thinking too long, Lin quickly chose "Melee Weapons". It's not that he disliked firearms, he just felt closer to melee weapons and believed he could achieve greatness using them. Once he made his choice, a new window appeared, allowing him to create his in-game avatar with all the details: clothing, appearance, accessories.
He quickly created an image of a man with black hair and red eyes, dressed in black garments with a half-covered face due to a black mask resembling a demonic mouth. Then Lin was given the choice of which weapon to fight with.
The menu was quite large, offering all existing melee weapons in the world. There were spears, swords, greatswords, daggers... Lin immediately clicked on swords and chose the katana. He was given the option to customize it — color, length, thickness, sharpness. Almost every chosen feature affected the attack speed, weight, agility, and other attributes of the katana.
Lin created a 110-centimeter violet katana — very light and, most importantly, sharp!
When everything was finished, Lin was finally given the choice: "One-on-One Battles" or "Free-for-All Battles". Lin thought about it and decided to choose "Free-for-All Battles", since there would be more participants there, meaning he could train against more opponents — clearly more promising than fighting a single person.
When Lin finished all the settings, he pressed the button: "Start"!