CHAPTER 94: THE GAMES

Liam sighed softly as he sat down on his bed. He had just finished dinner, and his thoughts had been circling around the same thing for more than over an hour: the games.

Lucy had informed him earlier that she was done creating all seven. He had been a little surprised at first.

She seven full games in less than a day of real-time?

On Earth, that was a feat that required decades, with hundreds of developers, artists, writers, and engineers. But then he reminded himself: Lucy wasn’t an ordinary AI. She was an AGI, running on a laptop with petascale computing power, in a dimension where every minute outside was an hour inside. Time and resources were bent in her favor.

So no, he wasn’t surprised anymore.

He picked up the Gear Glass from his nightstand and slipped it on. The device powered on instantly, synchronizing to his retina and neural pattern without the faintest delay. The familiar ripple of darkness passed over his vision before it cleared, and he found himself back in the user lobby.

But it wasn’t empty this time. The pure white expanse that had greeted him on the first boot had transformed.

Now, in front of him are different glowing icons, each marked with a name — Terra, Genesis Sandbox, Eternal Realms, Frontline, Virtual League: Football, Virtual League: Basketball, Children’s Arenas.

The icons weren’t static, either. Each one shimmered faintly, like a living window into its world. Terra’s icon showed a rotating hologram of the Earth. Eternal Realms displayed a knight holding a flaming sword, the fire curling realistically even though it was just an icon. The Children’s Arenas pulsed in bright pastel colors, like an invitation.

Liam smiled faintly. "Let’s start there," he murmured, his eyes locking on the children arena’s icon.

The icon pulsed once, then expanded in his vision until it filled everything.

***

The white void disappeared.

In its place, Liam found himself standing in the middle of a massive theme park. Bright balloons floated overhead, cheerful banners rippled in the breeze, and pathways stretched out in every direction, each leading to different "mini-worlds."

A cheerful NPC — a mascot-like figure with oversized gloves and a welcoming smile — appeared beside him.

"Welcome to the Children’s Arenas!" the NPC said in a chirpy voice. "Would you like a quick tour?"

"Yes," Liam replied.

At once, the mascot raised a hand and pointed. The park’s layout shimmered in his vision, expanding into a holographic map. Each arena was represented as a floating bubble.

Obstacle Dash — a wipeout-style game where kids could race across giant padded obstacles, bounce on trampolines, and slide down enormous ramps.

Treasure Hunters — an exploration game set in bright, cartoonish ruins, where kids searched for hidden gems while avoiding playful traps.

Animal Friends — a nurturing game where players cared for and played with magical creatures.

Paint Blasters — a safe PvP game where kids could shoot each other with neon paint guns, splashing colors across arenas.

Sky Riders — a flying mini-game where kids mounted hoverboards or cartoonish wings to race through floating hoops in the sky.

The last mini game reminded Liam of one game from a movie.

Each game was chibi-styled. The characters — including his avatar — had been simplified into cute, rounder proportions with big heads and expressive faces.

Liam chuckled softly when he saw his reflection in a mirror-like fountain. His usually sharp features had been replaced by a cheerful chibi version of himself.

"Okay, Lucy," he muttered, "this is adorable."

The NPC guide explained the mechanics: each arena was designed to be safe, lighthearted, and social. Even falls or "hits" didn’t cause pain but playful vibration feedback, like being tapped on the arm.

Liam tested a few of the arenas. He dashed through Obstacle Dash, leaping from inflatable platforms and laughing quietly to himself when his avatar slipped comically and bounced off a trampoline.

He tried Paint Blasters, splattering the bright walls in neon orange and dodging AI opponents that laughed every time they "hit" him.

The immersion was staggering. It wasn’t like watching a screen or moving a joystick. It was living inside the game. For children, this would be magic — a fantasy playground that felt as real as life, yet safe and filled with joy.

When he exited back to the lobby, Liam smiled with genuine satisfaction.

"Lucy... you outdid yourself with that one. Kids will lose their minds."

"Thank you, sir," Lucy replied in his mind. "I also created an AI overseer for the arenas to ensure constant safety and fairness."

Of course she had to. It wasn’t only for the game but all the games.

Next, Liam’s eyes fell on the football icon. He selected it.

The next moment, he was standing on the edge of a roaring stadium. The crowd’s chants rumbled like thunder, and the floodlights painted the lush green field in perfect clarity.

Normally, instead of the chanting, it should had been music but Lucy didn’t use it because Liam asked her not to. He doesn’t want get himself into some legal squabbles.

Unlike the two main football games, Lucy didn’t use real world players and their information but created players modelled after them.

The game has two main game style — classic, traditional third person POV and the immersive POV — the enhanced version of first person POV.

Gamers can control the players through neural intents or physical overlay. This means that they control the players through their thoughts — intents — or physical action.

But Lucy made sure that physics wasn’t broken as she plugged in the necessary rules and limits to create a gameplay that looks indistinguishable from real life football matches with a crazy level of immersion.

The game has three game modes. The first is the default single player mode. In this mode you control one player, AI controls the rest. This mode feels more like a classic console game. Especially with the third person POV.

Then the next mode is the multiplayer mode. In this mode, instead of the other players being controlled by AI, each is being controlled by a different gamer. Two different squads with all 22 players being a gamer. It’s like a real football match. That also includes the fact that the in-game and playable characters looks and feels no different from human.

This was all the same for the basketball game too.

"I can already see the crazy esport tournament potential of these two games," Liam said to himself, as he exited the basketball game.

He doesn’t even need to think about it to know it.

After that, Liam launched the fourth game, Genesis Sandbox

Suddenly, Liam saw that he was standing on a floating island. This was called a neutral ground. It was flat, simple, with endless skies stretching above and below.

An NPC guide appeared beside him — a tall, robed figure with a friendly smile.

"Welcome to Genesis Sandbox," it said warmly. "Here, you can build anything."

The guide explained the mechanics. Tools for creating objects. Editing functions that let him stretch or shrink reality. Physics engines that obeyed natural laws unless toggled off. Publishing systems to share creations with others.

"I’ve never played a sandbox game before. I wonder how good they are and how good this is," Liam said to himself, after he was done listening to the guide’s explanation.