Prisoners of VR

"Less than a minute..." Manav Sastry groaned as he observed the forest officer collapse to the ground in a pool of blood. He had lost all control of his body, bleeding nonstop as his brain was harnessing way too much power of the body, beyond its biological capability, causing his various organs to fail one after another.

Less than a minute since he unleashed Induced Reality, he was on the verge of death. Manav Sastry felt annoyed by it as he calmly crouched before the forest officer and poked him in the head, "At least you cut the ropes. Good, good, good."

"Did I...did I do well?" The forest officer asked with a fanatic gaze, not even aware of his bloody state. He was oozing blood from all orifices. His feet had already gone cold from the lack of blood supply to the region and several organs had already ceased function.

Despite everything, he stared at Manav Sastry as if a devout believer gazing at the deity of their worship.

"Yeah, you did well." Manav calmly patted the forest officer's head, vanishing as the latter breathed his last.

As the soldiers walked into the forest, they pulled the rope with them, causing the cut ends to eventually enter the forest premises too, within the electromagnetic dome's range. With it, all ten of them lost their anchors that would otherwise have helped them exit the forest.

Manav's appearance was short but impactful. And once his task was done, he didn't even stay behind to watch the events transpire. Well, the host that could bring him to reality died already. So, he had no other avenue to inspect the place.

...

Kozhikode Gold Jewellers, head office Thiruvananthapuram!

Seated in the CEO's office, with his head resting on the easy chair, holding a book in place was a man aged 55. It was nighttime already and he had just attended an important conference. Slumped on the chair, he relaxed, intending to remain as such for an hour before it was time for him to return home.

At that moment, his uVR Earth blinked blue. Company owners typically owned a red uVR Earth, one that allowed their employees to work from home through Virtual Reality. As he was an old man, he didn't make the shift and was content with possessing a civilian uVR Earth.

He intended to retire soon enough, for he had focused all his life towards his company. Making a jewellery business was tough, especially since many giants in the country had a hand in the industry.

Despite everything, his company wedged a path for itself through the market share and currently was one of the biggest in the country. As his health was waning, he intended to relax and at least get a taste of the riches he had accumulated.

But the moment his uVR Earth blinked, he sat up promptly, the old man's nature of wishing to retire vanished like a poof as he sported a solemn, devout expression, full of energy like a youth.

Closing his eyes, he fell asleep, arriving at his Virtual Space to see Manav Sastry there. He immediately kneeled on the ground and exclaimed, "Diamond of Luxury, King Seat, R.K. Raman greets the Cyber God!"

"At ease," Manav snapped his finger and cause a pair of chairs to appear. He took a seat and motioned for the old man to do the same, "You're not young enough to be so hyper. Take a seat."

"As you wish," R.K. Raman groaned a little while sitting. His knees weren't at their best state recently, so he was having trouble due to them.

He stared at Manav Sastry, elated to see the deity of his worship, "What shall I do for you?"

"How's the gamer recruitment coming along?" Manav asked curtly.

"It's not going too well. There's an obvious media backlash but I've already thrown enough funds to suppress them." R.K Raman said coolly, "Currently, we have recruited three hundred graduates who'll be working full time to erect whatever we need in Worldcraft."

"All of them have stats in the hundreds and have affinity exceeding twenty percent for Arachmen." He continued, "There have been some initial losses, but recently, we have begun to mine Invoker Crystals."

"We haven't yet taken control of any of the beginner villages, right?" Manav asked next.

"No, I fear if our company gains hold of a beginner village, too many companies would notice us and target our business on Earth." R.K. Raman expressed truthfully, "Therefore, we're following your orders to create villages farther away. One of our teams is close to succeeding. We just need some time."

"Three hundred is too little," Manav frowned, "We need at least ten thousand for my plans."

"That will take a lot of time." R.K. Raman sighed, "It will put a strain on our resources, especially since after your previous command, I have been buying up companies in the silk business."

"Right, you were doing that too." Manav knocked his head once for forgetting that detail and said, "Well, extend a recruitment offer to those without a uVR Earth. Find ones with potent brainwave frequency and make them undergo the operation. Once they're tied to your company financially, use them to make waves in Worldcraft.

"I'll do as you day." R.K Raman nodded respectfully.

Manav then asked, "Have any of the DOVA Agents from India entered Worldcraft?"

"Only Rahu," R.K Raman said solemnly, "And he has passed an order for all the DOVA Agents in our country to enter it too. I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before the DOVA Agents enter Worldcraft. His influence in the circle is very high."

"Well, that isn't a surprise. He's inferior in talent only to me." Manav commented, proud. "Things will change once the DOVA Agents take action. They are too strong for the Dungeon Bosses nearby the beginner villages to handle. It's just a matter of time before they gain ownership of the villages."

After a minute of thought, he spoke, "Well, I'll leave that part to Heart."

"Continue with your acquisition. Your jewellery business is booming. Work with the rest of the businessmen in Diamond and buy up the silk industry. Silkworms, spiders, etc. buy up the regions where these silk-producing insects are concentrated the highest. I've left you a blueprint. Build farms accordingly. And keep note," Manav's voice turned serious, "No one from the media, government, or the public must be aware of these farms."

"Understood." R.K Raman nodded and sighed sullenly when Manav vanished, "I hoped to bask in your presence longer."

A memory card was left on the empty chair. R.K Raman grabbed it and inserted it into a computer present in his Virtual Space, pulling up all the information regarding the farms, "As usual, the plan is detailed to the extreme."

"As expected of the Cyber God!"

He then called twelve other people that formed the core of the Diamond Branch, one of the four branches-Diamond, Heart, Clover, and Spade-that formed the cult that worshipped Manav Sastry as their God.

He changed rooms, arriving at a round table with each seat modelled after the various cards in a deck of cards. R.K Raman took a seat at the position of King of Diamond, calmly observing the vacant seats being filled one after another.

The figures of every one were masked by a shadow. It was to ensure information about their identities wouldn't be revealed to anyone. Even though this was being held inside a Virtual Space, unable to be hacked into, it was better to take caution.

Rahu was capable of entering Virtual Spaces. They had verified this claim multiple times. It was since then did they begin taking caution on this front too.

"Someone other than the Ace summoned us all?" The one seated at the Jack of Diamond expressed their surprise. "Did something happen?"

"There is no disturbance in the business world." The one seated at the Three of Diamond said, confused, "Things are proceeding at the calculated pace."

Everyone seated around the table were giants of the business world, with each belonging to a respective sector of commerce. Unless absolutely necessary, for something that might shake their financial foundation, all thirteen of them wouldn't be summoned. Therefore, discussions spiked in the room.

R.K. Raman spoke, intending to calm everyone, "We're going all out into the acquisition of the Indigo Realm. Please increase the rate of your preparations..."

"We know that, come to the point." Suddenly, the Ace spoke, causing the room to turn silent. There was power in their voice, oozing out authority. Even in this room, the one at the seat of the Ace of Diamonds was on another level.

Everyone else could only submit and listen to their words. The Ace of Diamonds stared at R.K Raman, calmly pressuring the latter. They were ranked first and second in the Diamond Branch, but despite only being separated by one rank, there was a wide chasm between them.

The Ace of all four branches were in a league of their own, handpicked by Manav to excel in their respective field.

At the Ace of Diamond's pressure, R.K. Raman spoke, getting to the point immediately, "The Cyber God expressed his intention,"

"Acquire all silk!"