Ethan clicked on the thread, resisting the urge to jump straight to the juicy bits. Instead, he scrolled rapidly to the very bottom.

  "Wait a minute, isn't it supposed to say 'no creeps allowed'?"

  "Where are the spicy pics?"

  Ethan was completely baffled. To use a clickbait title like that, only to find a completely serious post? Something was definitely wrong here!

  Without any promised images, Ethan’s interest plummeted. He reached for the corner of the screen to exit, but in that fleeting moment, he caught sight of the original poster's username.

  "No way, this is from ButtonMasher?" Ethan exclaimed, surprised.

  ButtonMasher was a well-known figure on the 'We Love Games' forum. He was famous for his insightful and humorous game reviews, and many people appreciated him.

  The games he recommended were usually of high quality.

  Ethan hesitated, then started reading the post carefully.

  If it were anyone else's thread, Ethan would have dismissed it immediately as just another XP farming post.

  But a post by ButtonMasher was definitely worth a look.

  "It must be some game company that made some progress with VR technology," Ethan mused, and continued reading.

  ----

  Fellow gamers, everyone knows sitting for too long can lead to back pain, kidney problems, and hemorrhoids. So, for the sake of my well-being, I took a day off yesterday to go play around in the sticks.

  Recently, I've seen a lot of people checking out Starlight Amusement Park on the edge of town, so I decided to head on over there.

  Man, the place was packed! The crowds were insane. I almost got knocked up.

  I was hoping to get my thrills on some coasters or something, but when I got there, the line was longer than my ex-girlfriends begging for me back. It could wrap around Riverdale!

  Seriously, it was like two hours in line for one minute of fun.

  I couldn’t handle it. I mean, I finally got a day out; I couldn't spend it just standing around getting jostled by people.

  So, I hit up the park's virtual reality arcade instead.

  Honestly, I just wanted to kill some time. I mean, what's fun about any arcade game? They aren’t even worthy to polish my PC gaming 3A games.

  But when I got there, my jaw dropped!

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  No freakin' way, this park had virtual reality game pods!

  That’s right!

  You heard me right!

  Not that cheapo VR crap.

  But the freakin virtual reality game pods you see in novels and movies!

  At this point, someone’s bound to ask, “Is ButtonMasher getting paid for this?”

  And I promise to my good name.

  Alright, enough rambling.

  Right now, this virtual reality game pod has only one racing game, but the driving experience is just like the real thing.

  Plus, you can choose any freakin car you want!

  Whatever you want!

  For that alone, bros, it’s freakin worth it!

  ......

  Anyway, I highly recommend you go to this place and check it out!

  Anyone who doesn’t isn’t an American!

  ----

  Ethan’s head was spinning by the time he finished the post.

  He rubbed his eyes and reread the author's name a few times to make sure it really said 'ButtonMasher,' without any weird characters or typos.

  According to the post, this was mature virtual reality game tech, just like in the movies!

  But shouldn't this be future tech for decades?

  Lots of other people were just as confused as Ethan and were flooding the thread with comments.

  "First!"

  "Second!"

  "No freakin way is there VR tech actually available?"

  "I thought it was a troll, I was about to report it, but then I saw it was from ButtonMasher."

  "I strongly suspect ButtonMasher got paid off."

  Ethan scrolled further down.

  Amidst all the doubt, a few people defended ButtonMasher.

  "Bump for ButtonMasher. I went there yesterday, and it really is virtual reality game, just like they said.”

  "Yep, yep, my buddy went and sent me a video. I'm heading over there tomorrow!"

  "I haven't tried the VR game that ButtonMasher mentioned, but I've been to Starlight Amusement Park a bunch of times. It does have some pretty cool rides. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a VR game there."

  Ethan was getting more and more intrigued. Could VR technology really be here?

  He came to a decision: he had to check it out in person tomorrow.

  Seeing is believing.

  It's time to bring out the horses for a walk to know how they are.

  Ethan closed ButtonMasher's thread.

  The night was still young, and Ethan was busy with some games other forum members recommended.

  Strangely, these games were pretty good.

  Normally, Ethan would be glued to the screen all night long.

  But tonight, he couldn't quite focus. He kept thinking about ButtonMasher's thread whenever he was sitting at his keyboard and clicking the mouse.

  For once, Ethan didn't stay up late playing games. He went to bed early.

  But it took him a while to fall asleep, and he kept dreaming about virtual reality.

  What Ethan didn't know was that many other hardcore gamers were having similar experiences that night.

  Those who had visited Starlight Amusement Park during the day were already bragging to their friends and family about the virtual reality games they had played!

  This only made those gamers more envious.

  If Starlight Amusement Park hadn't been closed at night, people probably would have hopped in their cars and driven there immediately.

  The next day.

  As the sun rose in the east, casting its first rays upon the earth,

  Ethan sprang out of bed with dark circles under his eyes.

  "Finally, it's morning!" Ethan exclaimed.

  He couldn't even count how many times he woke up last night.

  Every time he woke up, he'd grab his phone and check the time.

  He repeated this until morning came.

  Ethan washed up as fast as he could, got dressed, and rushed out the door. He hailed a cab and headed straight for Starlight Amusement Park.

  Ethan asked the boss for the day off on the way.

  The boss was surprised. Ethan, the type of guy who would not stop working unless his injury was minor and did not step in a hospital unless his injury was major. He would never be late or leave early no matter the weather. The boss accepted immediately.

  Ethan spent an hour stuck in a car before arriving at the entrance of Starlight Amusement Park.

  He caught a glimpse of it in the distance, Ethan's jaw dropped.

  Starlight Amusement Park was packed with people. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought some important person was visiting and all of the local townies had come out to get a photo.