Alec grabbed the headset and put it inside its package. He had decided that he was going to return this headset. This wasn't because of a trauma. It was mainly because Alec was cautious. As he was oblivious of the adverse effect of using this headset, he didn't want to operate it anymore.
Of course, one reason he made the decision was related to the game time concerning the time in reality. If his body was still in reality, which his roommate's girlfriend confirmed, then it meant he didn't enter the game. It was likely it happened inside of his consciousness.
Since it was so, then calculating the time difference, his brain was processing the game events at two hundred and twenty-eight days in under ten minutes! Could a human brain even process that much information?
While Alec placed the headset inside the box, he noticed there was something inside. Baffled, he turned over the box and poured its contents away. When he saw the items, his heart skipped a beat.
On the floor was the Desert Eagle gun and Diego's chain from the game. Alec broke out a cold sweat as he suddenly became wary. He looked around his room to see if anyone was spying on him. 'I thought this was a game. Why did this item appear here?' Alec wondered in shock.
Wait, if all these game items were here, does it mean... Alec's stomach tightened, and he searched for Diego's name on every social media platform he could think of.
There were many results of the name 'Diego", but Alec could not find his account, which calmed him a little. He wanted to be certain and searched for the names of Diego's men, but it returned with nothing.
Alec covered his face in relief. If this game's characters were real, it not only meant he was not safe anymore, but it would mean that he had killed someone before. At least thank god it wasn't true.
Just as he was thinking, his roommate walked in, jolting him out of his thoughts. It was then he realized that he didn't put away the gun and chains. he grabbed the gun and hid it behind him, thinking of how he was going to explain himself.
The roommate stared at him questionably, but he ignored him and continued using his phone. Alec was confused, but he was glad he never saw the gun at all. He put away the items at the side of his bed and tucked them carefully. If anyone found out that he had a gun in his possession, he would have a lot of explaining to do.
Grabbing the box that contained the headset, Alec left his room and out of the hostel and headed to the old pawn shop. He had already made a list of questions he would ask the old man, some of which was who was he, and why did he gift him the headset.
Alec entered the pawnshop, but he didn't hear the bell notification that the door had when he first came here. Put that aside, this pawn shop was very different. It was not even a pawn shop.
"Hello, young man, great to have you here. What do you want?" The young attendance politely greeted him. Alec glanced at the young boy in confusion, and he couldn't understand why this place was different from the way he saw it like literally ten hours ago.
"I would like to see the manager please", Alec requested, feeling disarrayed. The boy seemed concerned. "Is there any specific reason you want to speak to him? You can say it to me", the boy said.
"Yes, there is. Please can I see your manager?" Alec requested again. The boy raised his eyebrows but didn't speak further. He walked away and headed to the door labelled "Administration Office".
Alec used the idle time and examined the electronic store. There were quite many customers buying things in the store, and there were new items on the shelves, the total opposite of the store he obtained this retro headset.
Soon, an old man came out of the administration office, along with the boy that tailed him from behind. This was not the old man that gifted him the headset. What was happening here?
"Good evening mister. I was told by my grandson that you want to speak to me. Is there any problem?" The old man asked smiling. "I am looking for an old man with white hair and unusually smooth skin", Alec requested.
However, the manager looked at Alec with a confused expression as he glanced at the young boy. "I... I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone that you speak of. Are you sure you're in the right store?" The manager asked.
"Yes, I am. isn't this 33, Jump Street?" Alec asked wearily. "Yes it is, but I'm sorry, I don't know the person you are describing. Maybe you should try the electronic store ten minutes walk away from here", the old manager suggested.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Alec had a lot of questions in his mind, but he couldn't address them all. There was no way he went to the wrong store, except the store he went to was an illusion. This realization made Alec alarmed.
What was that old man's intention? Alec racked his brain, but he could find a reasonable answer. He went back to his room and lay on his bed confused. This was no time to dwell on questions though. He had upcoming exams coming in a month, so he had to read hard for them.
With curiosity, Alec attempted to summon his stats, but nothing happened. It was likely the stats only displayed to him in-game. If this was true, then how did that gun and chain appear in reality?
Alec took out the headset and closely examined it. Apart from the "VIRTUAL BOY" text written on its front, there wasn't any information Alec could work on. He turned over the headset and closely examined its base.
Alec could see a blot of ink on the middle of the headset base. Looking closer, he realized it wasn't a blotch, it was a very small written text. However, because it was very small, Alec could not read it, so he took out his smartphone and use its camera to read it.