"W-Wha- YOU GOT A [VEILCON] AND [ISEKAI] FROM YOUR DAD?!"

I started to regret telling this to my friends since Zac had gotten really into my face, though it might’ve been for the best since they might’ve kept bugging me about the game if I kept it secret. "Yeah. My Dad gave them to us on the condition of taking a special job at his company. At least that made my brother happy for a while."

"Seriously?! All that just to help out with the game? Man, I wish my Dad worked as an AI guy." I just chuckled when I saw his dismayed face. I couldn't blame him, though. He didn't expect me to get the game after all. "But that means you will join up with us for tomorrow's release day, right?"

"Well, that's the idea. Unless we face some internet traffic and Kazuki cries out of annoyance again." And I'm not exaggerating. He actually threw a tantrum when his favorite novel series' upcoming book was delayed. It took a few days just to calm him down until it arrived. "Though, I am still worried about playing the game."

"You have a good point there. Besides, you're the only one in our class who hasn’t played any kind of video game, especially with the MMO genre." I frown at that statement. I'm usually busy with my homework and family game nights after all. Besides, I preferred to use the internet to search for colleges and update my social media after all.

"Yeah, that is a problem. Although, Kazuki might able to help me out. I mean, he is part of the Isekai hype after all."

"Well, in any case, I hope you guys have fun in there. Damon and I, on the other hand, are planning a live stream of the game's release!" Zac declares this as he pulls Damon near him, at which I could see Damon is not on board with this.

"Okay, first... We're just going to meet up and play it for a while. Second, I'm just joining you because someone has to keep an eye on you and your crazy antics." And of course, Damon manages to find the right words to calm him down. Though I felt Zac’s hyperactivity just irritates him a little bit.

"Why don't you join us with your brother? I promise we’ll have a good time for the release day!"

Sounds promising, but I did plan to play only with Kazuki for tomorrow. "I'm afraid I have to pass on your offer. But I will make sure to meet up with both of you inside the game. Plus, it's a good way to let us play at our own pace for a while."

"Good point. But you better keep your promise!"

I just reply with a nod before our homeroom teacher enters our classroom to start our next class.

Eventually, Saturday had come at last and Kazuki and I were waiting in our bedroom right in front of our [VeilCon] helmets. Dad had just finished adjusting them for us to use and he had already installed [Isekai Online] into them. All that's left is to let the game patch up, which is no problem since it's only 2 hours away from launching. Although, the wait would’ve gone more calmly if Kazuki hadn't been jumping around in his bed very quietly.

"Would you calm down for a second, Kazuki? I'm still trying to read the instruction manual for the VeilCons. You know we can't just [Dive] in without knowing the safety protocols and the do's and don'ts of them." While the [VeilCon] has many features as like any other video game console, it still has a special feature that can manipulate brainwaves. So I felt that learning more about it through the manual would help me prepare for any worst-case scenarios, like in those VRMMO light novels and anime.

"I know, but we're hours away from entering a fantasy world. Sure, it's not real, but it is a real live virtual reality fantasy world we're talking about here!"He shouts just as he jumps down from his bed. Thankfully, he managed to land without falling, which is a relief for me. "Besides, I can able to experience all of it with you!"

Yeah, I’d heard this many times now and while it sounds a little irritating right now, I had to agree with him. Considering our family's busy schedule right now, I honestly felt that Kazuki finally got a good way for us to hang out. "Yeah, I guess. But we still need to follow Mom's rules when using VR. Namely to use it for no more than two to three hours and to take a break every once in a while. Otherwise, we’ll face her wrath. We don't want a repeat of that biking incident."

I'm not exaggerating. Mom can be scary when it comes to using disobeying her instructions and orders. It had gotten to the point where just the thought of disobeying her rules made us shiver. At that point, we had to be vigilant and avoid forgetting how much time we spent in the game.

Two hours passed, during which we ate lunch and then returned to our bedroom, which we can see that the installer shown on our computer screen is now at 97%. "Well, the patch is almost finished and it's 3 minutes till launch. We might as well prepare ourselves to [Dive] in."

[Diving] into ADVR's virtual world is like entering a dream world: all we have to do is to lie down in a comfortable position (aka lying down in our beds) and launch our [VeilCons] so it can do the rest. After that, all that's left is to enjoy the game. But before I can go to bed to prepare my helmet, I felt my wrist pull away as I turn around to see my brother. But for some reason, he's holding several notebooks, each of them respectively colored blue and green. "Huh? What is it? And what's with those notebooks?"

"Well... Since this is our first time playing a VRMMO, I feel we should try to log our adventures inside [Isekai Online] into these journals. You know, like our activity logs or journals so we can remember a moment we have as our characters. What do you think?"

Huh... He’d really gone above and beyond just for this game. Then again, he had been very passionate and hype up about it ever since its announcement. Also, it might not be a bad idea to write down our experiences in a journal, so I decided to take up his offer. "Not a bad idea. Also, Dad told us the [Guardian Player's] feature to let you play alone for an hour or so. So it might be a good way for me to know about your whereabouts there."

"Hayate!"

Oh boy, I’d done it again. He pouts again just as I grabbed the blue journal from him. "Hey, I know you feel it's against your privacy, but I'm still your older brother and it is for your good. Besides, what happens if internet trolls and PKers ambush you if I’m not around? Or do I need to remind you about Mom's temper?"

Just when I felt that he won't listen to the reason, Kazuki finally sighs in defeat. "Alright... But only if you let me take a peek at your journal as well!" That seems to do the trick as Kazuki stopped pouting. I hate to see him slump down in dismay like that. But as his older brother, I had to keep an eye on his wellbeing for both his and our parents' sake.

"Fair enough. As long we don't let anyone see these journals, we're all good."

We then shook hands as our vow to never show our journals to anyone. We then went to our beds, put on our VeilCon helmets, and laid down. We heard a whirling sound with the lights on the helmet’s indicators turned on. I place down my blue journal near my desk and took a few deep breaths to prepare myself.

"Ready, Kazuki?"

"I'm all set! Though I just hope Dad knew what he was doing during our registration."

My only worries about it were whether he misspelled our usernames again. Either way, there's no time to dawdle. We were seconds away to the launch of [Isekai Online].

At the stroke of 2 PM, we then close our eyes and shout out the keywords needed to activate the ADVR.

"[Dive In]!"

With that, my consciousness began to fade as a flash of light clouded my entire vision.