CHAPTER 57 - SWIMMING COACH

Over the past few days, Subnautica, an already massively popular title, once again sent shockwaves through its player base.

Now that most players had reached the mysterious island, witnessed the towering alien structures, and seen the unforgettable moment when the Sunbeam ship was obliterated by a single blast, the community erupted.

Just like the destroyed ship, countless of players hearts were blown to pieces.

Outrage flooded the forums.

"WTF?! Sunbeam! MY Sunbeam! I waited so long for that rescue arc, one shot and it's GONE?!"

"Man, this part really broke me. I've never felt despair like this from a game before."

"I was literally laughing and chatting with Captain Eli, heard he was a stand up guy. Next second? BOOM! Dead!"

Not only were average players completely devastated, even star gamers and influencers lost their cool.

Other celebrities soon joined in, posting rants and memes.

"I was so hyped for the Sunbeam ship... now I'm just numb. This game is supposed to be relaxing?! It's emotional torture!"

"Was literally eating hotpot and singing karaoke when the ship got vaporized. Devs you've got some explaining to do!"

Replies under their posts were savage.

"Maybe if you didn't sing karaoke so bad, this wouldn't have happened!"

"No point asking the devs for answers, they are probably cackling right now watching everyone cry!"

"When Sunbeam first went up in smoke, I wanted to punch the devs!"

"You'll have to wait your turn to hit them, there's a whole line of people already, lol."

"To be fair though, the weapons and tech that show up later? INSANE. Super satisfying!"

"Damn you, bastards! This is emotional whiplash. One second I'm crying, the next I'm grinning like an idiot!"

"It's like emotional training. Joy, pain, rinse, repeat."

"Can we officially start calling ourselves the devs emotional hostages now?"

Soon, the term Sunbeam trended to the top of Twitter's trending. Every time a celebrity mentioned Subnautica, the comments skyrocketed past ten thousand.

Even stars who weren't into gaming began to feel left out.

"Wait, what's this game everyone's playing? Should I try it too?"

They realized: if they didn't join the wave now, they'd be left behind in social conversations.

But among the crowd of addicted celebrities, one stood out for his... serenity.

DanTDM.

As the most diehard fan of New World, DanTDM updated twitter daily with his Subnautica progress. His most recent post?

"Just landed on the island and was absolutely blown away by the alien architecture. Can't wait to see what happens next!"

But unlike everyone else, DanTDM was far behind in the storyline. While most players had already seen Sunbeam get nuked, he was still busy trying to rescue the woman in Pod No. 2, which had significantly delayed his main plot progression.

So, while the rest of the community was emotionally wrecked, DanTDM was still full of hope and wonder.

His fans couldn't help but laugh.

"Bro, you're still excited? Hold on tight, the rollercoaster's about to start!"

"I want to spoil it for you SO bad... but nah, you gotta feel the heartbreak yourself."

"With how hard you tried to save the Pod No. 2 girl... hoo boy. What is next is gonna break you."

Confused by the strange reactions, DanTDM furrowed his brows.

"What's with these weird comments? Why do they all sound like they pity me?"

His curiosity was piqued.

He nearly replied to ask for spoilers, but held himself back. He'd always hated being spoiled. For him, the best part of a game was the anticipation.

"Forget it. How bad can it be? Nothing could be worse than what happened to Pod No. 2... right?"

---BREAK---

Meanwhile, at the National Swimming Complex, a top training base for Teams national swim squad, the pool was closed to the public.

All members had returned from their vacation to begin prep for the upcoming swimming competition.

In the women's team lounge, twelve athletes sat listening to their coach, Mei, a stern woman in her 40s.

"The break is over. Time to get serious. The competition is only four months away. From now on, full focus. Understood?"

"Understood!" the team chorused.

"Good. Go change and gather at the main pool."

Just as she turned to leave, someone called out.

"Wait, Coach!"

It was Brook Linx.

"I've got a new training idea I'd like to try out."

"Training idea?" Mei raised a brow.

Brook hesitated for a moment, then explained how she had discovered Subnautica during vacation, and believed it could be used to train swimming skills.

At first, Mei was completely baffled. It took several minutes for her to even understand the concept.

"You're saying... you want to use a VR game to train for competitive swimming?"

"Exactly!"

The other athletes looked at her like she was nuts. Most of them had heard of Subnautica, but they didn't play games usually. A video game... for swim training? Ridiculous.

Only Terra lit up.

"Wait, Brook, you mean Subnautica? I played that during vacation too, it was incredible. I actually thought about using it for training as well!"

Instantly, the two girls bonded and began chattering about their in game experiences.

Coach Mei frowned.

"Enough! You're athletes, not kids. Games are for relaxing, not training. You shouldn't be playing them at all with the competition starting soon!"

Mei, like many older generation parents, viewed video games as corrupting distractions. Especially Subnautica, which her own son had recently become obsessed with.

Despite limiting his screen time to under an hour a day, he had started talking back to her, something he never used to do. Shouting things like.

"I'm not afraid of a Leviathan, why would I be afraid of you?"

She was already suspicious of the game. Now Brook was praising it in a professional setting?

Still, out of respect for her top athletes, Olympic gold medalist Brook Linx and bronze winner Terra Lacker she reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, but even if I wanted to try this method, this is a swimming complex. We don't have VR platforms."

Both girls froze. They hadn't thought of that.

Trying to seem considerate, Mei said.

"I'll ask the facility manager. But if he says no, then that's the end of it."

She dialed up the administrator.

"Hey. Do we have a VR setup here? A couple of athletes want to try using a game for training."

"Oh, the VR area? Of course we do!" he replied cheerfully.

Mei blinked.

"Wait, you're serious?"

Brook and Terra were already beaming.

Mei was stunned, she genuinely hadn't expected that answer.

"Okay, but do you even have Subnautica on the system?"

"Haha, we ONLY have Subnautica! No other games."

"..."

This place is cursed.

Left with no excuses, Mei took the team to the VR room. A fully equipped setup awaited them.

"Why is there even a VR zone in a SWIMMING POOL?!"

"Oh, we just set it up," the administrator said. "A lot of visitors actually use Subnautica to learn swimming basics before entering the water. It's made lessons way easier."

"Wait... you're saying a video game is doing a better job than your actual swim coaches?!"

"Exactly. Our coaches barely get called anymore."

Everyone, including Mei, was stunned.

"Coach, really, just try it," Brook urged.

Left with no choice, Mei nodded.

"Fine. I'll give it a shot."

She stepped onto the VR platform, wearing the extra sensory suit. At her age, she had never tried anything like this before, and now, she was a little nervous.

1246 Words.