Perpetual Power’s workers had to connect five different apartments, it took them half the day. And it would have taken them longer if Kom hadn’t forced everyone out of the building.

There was a real worry about security. With the entire building empty the workers went as fast as they could so they could get out of here.

Everyone of the boys were getting antsy. This was too much of a tease. They had all tasted the virtual world and wanted more. Having to wait over six hours was killing them.

When everything was ready, the crew went to check it out. In every apartment was a giant jack that stood out. It looked alien in this environment.

The issue of security while they were connect wasn´t there. They all lived with their families. Supporting each other in this place was necessary. It is impossible to live alone in the Ring.

To survive in the Ring needed more than just observant people to stand guard. It needed reputation to precede them. Everyone knew Sorp and his friends lived here.

The virtual world was still expanding. There were virtual coffee shops, places to play sport, libraries, everything you could think off. There was an instance of it.

Private rooms could be made with specific rules that tested the boundaries of sensation. Meaning it would be as real in these room as it was outside.

There would be instances of great colosseum where you could be an observer or a gladiator.

Perpetual Power’s ingame currency was supposed to be called PPcoin. But they, due to massive criticism renamed it Vcoin. Which became its own joke but much more accepted.

Vcoin has its own value in the real world. It was fraction of real life currency. Small amount of real life currency could get you riches in game.

The only way to get Vcoin was to flat out buy it from Perpetual Power or win it through gambling with other players. There was no way to find it in the virtual world. Not yet at least.

In this way, the Virtual world was called pay to win. But it was so cheap it was irrelevant in majority of cases.

There were multitude of games to play. But they all lacked one thing. A large world.

It wasn’t that Perpetual Power was incapable of creating a large world. They could create instances ten times larger than Earth.

But to create an entire world would take painstaking effort. This wasn’t just some algorithm they could run. But they were working on such a world.

This world was supposed to more than just a game. It was supposed to test the boundaries of reality. They wanted to create a world where pain was pain and pleasure was pleasure.

It could be said to be a romantic vision. And some might even question its value, because it was already possible to create such environment in private rooms.

It was possible to create private rooms where you could torture another player. The other player could just leave the room, but it was possible.

Sorp and his friend were now acclimating themselves. They were in Sorp’s private room. It appears to be the same as in real life.

Without the attention to the smallest of details, you might be fooled into believing it is the same room.

“It’s almost unbelievable. How did you do this? It’s exactly the same.”

“There is nothing to it. Just do it.”

They could all create their own room and suite them to their own tastes. Sorp was simple and just created his own room.

The wonder of it was the detail. It didn’t even lack the insects prowling around. This was due to Sorp’s abnormal sensory abilities. He just saw things in more detail than others.

This ability of Sorp’s isn’t unique. Many successful people have such capabilities, some learned and trained. Some were natural at it like Sorp.

“Why are we just staying here?”

Sorp himself had no idea how to maneuver this world. But he could do simple things like follow instructions.

He had been prompted with some things and just followed the suggestions given. This ended up with him inside this private room.

The guidance is all multifacet, there is a text format, a vocal format and a video format where each action is showed.

Kom managed to have Sorp invite him to his hideout and soon they were all six of them had gathered.

Dart was already researching what they could do. Dart, like all of them, loved to watch people fight. So he was scouring the public rooms for things pertaining to it.

He picked a few rooms and explained them to the guys. Sorp wanted to fight in a colosseum. So that’s where they went.

Inside the colosseum were thousands of people. Even if only a few of them were shouting, their shouting was carried across the entire arena.

The first thing Dart and Kom did was bet all their Vcoin on Sorp. Sorp hadn’t picked a new nickname and just showed up as Sorp.

He was going to fight in a clash where there were multiple different sides. A team of virtual animals and virtual humans. There were real fighters in teams of two or three.

Even with over ten different teams, it wasn’t crowded on the arena floor. The crowd rose in excitement when all teams walked into view.

Sorp was there. He had picked up a single gauntlet and an outfit that was made from lions hide. Giving him a barbaric feeling.

There were similar people on the ground. All seemed born for this arena. Only a stray few were lithe, graceful looking. These people appeared out of place.

One of the main reason they went to this colosseum in place of the multiple other venues, was that touted realism. This place was supposed cause real pain.

To prevent people jumping out of the arena once the fighting began, there was a restriction in place.

Only way to leave was if the time ran out, you bleed to death, you were killed or if you won. This made it one of the more popular duel arenas in Perpetual Power’s virtual reality.

This sounded like it lended itself to the potential of torturing players. And it did in a sense. But the system had ways to circumvent such exploitation.

Once a player was judge to be a vulnerable situation, any damage done to them would be multiplied, making it so death was unavoidable.

This was a flawed system but without it, few would actually volunteer. They were required to accept conditions that put them in situation that would allow them to be tortured.

There were still such places. These would be private and often only desperate people would fight in such places. Much like Sorp’s cruel fights. These were to entertain the wealthy.

It lacked real privacy, but Perpetual Power was not a saint of a corporation. They were paid handsomely to overlook certain things. This was how the world worked, on money.

This was both something done in the open and in the dark. High level employees could create these underground scenes for the right money.

The company itself would also sell private rooms that were more private. But that just meant things like the colosseum. It was brutal but it wasn’t depraved.

It was only when things were considered depraved and public figures were involved that greater secrecy was required. And that was bought with money or other desirable things.

It is possible to convert Vcoin back to its real life value. There was only one percent lost in the transaction.

This allowed people to gain wealth by betting. People could even be employed to do things and paid in Vcoin.

One of the scariest thing about Vcoin was that it wasn’t taxable. Once you converted your money to a real life equivalent, it might be traceable.

The problem was when people began accepting payments in Vcoin. How would you trace peoples Vcoin wealth? You would need Perpetual Power’s help.

It wasn’t easy to get paid a reasonable amount, but in some areas, a little was enough to maintain a lowkey lifestyle.

Some private rooms styled themselves up as having real life waiters. These places didn’t have to adhere to conventional human rights.

This meant some people worked in places where they would be humiliated. They could be all but prostitutes in guise of a server.

People argued back and forth about the ethics of the thing. But in the end, this was a virtual world.

There were no real consequences. You could even die a simulated death. And respawn again. The only mark it left was a psychological one. And that was hard to prove.

It was also next to impossible to force people to do things they didn’t consent to.

This meant that anyone that was coerced into something in the virtual environment was most likely being manipulated in real life. That meant criminal organizations.

This isn't uncommon. People did everything for money. And people would pay a lot of the most depraved of things.

Perhaps not comparable to the more insidious things, but one side was Sorp’s current situation.

He was walking on the coarse sand of the colosseum. The sun was strong and he could feel the heat in every breath. He saw muscular men and fierce beasts.

His heart was bursting. This was one of the most thrilling feelings he had experienced. He let out a trademarked roar. Even some of the fighters couldn’t help but look his way.

Sorp was wearing some beautiful leather armor, making him look like a regal savage. His left hand exposed to the elements, while his right was fitted with a loose gauntlet.

The fingers were had sharp edges. Like tiny spear ends. The fingers were made of a metal substance that reflected the sun. between the fingers and the wrist were several small chains.

If anything the gauntlet was just these five fingers clad in a metal claw. Sorp liked it. It was one of the few weapons that didn’t feel too impersonal.

Sorp wanted to be as close to his enemy as he could. This was his perversion. He felt even the gauntlet to be a bit too much, which is why he only wore one. Just in case.