Two more chapters left to go today.
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/Several hours later, deep in the night.../
Dale was currently laying on his bed, thinking...
[You have activated, Confluence 0-Star]
"It's quite the strange feeling..."
'But I wonder if this is going to work?... Or if it'll end in some undesirable consequences...'
He remained there, conflicted, not moving in the slightest, because if he did, his Skill would be undone.
"Whatever, I don't have all day."
'No matter what, I'll only postpone the inevitable if I leave this for later...'
[Log Off?]
"Yes please, it's already quite late and my body needs some sleep."
'I should also prepare for the pain…' Dale thought to himself as his vision blackened…
…
/Back in the real world…/
[User has disconnected, initiating log-out procedures] Said the mechanical voice of the pod
It beeped a few more times before saying:
[Quick System Check: All systems nominal]
[Current body condition: Within normal parameters, slightly high blood pressure]
[It's safe to continue]
Like before, the blue liquid Dale was in started to get drained, and in less than half a minute, all of it went away, leaving Dale suspended by the black mechanical arm tied to his waist.
/Beep!/
The machine beeped loudly, indicating that Dale had...
"!!"
Inside the translucent black helmet, Dale's eyes suddenly darted open as he drew in a quick breath.
'The sudden jolt I have every time I log off… I still can't used to it.'
"Put me down." Dale ordered the Virtual intelligence of the Pod
As it did so, it said:
[Welcome back Dale, breath slowly and…]
But just like last time, Dale ignored the machine and closed his eyes, letting his body recover its functions slowly…
He pinched his legs, arms, and waist, quickly recovering his sense of touch.
[Your body has recovered all normal functions] Said the machine
"Oh? That was faster than before…"
'Is it due to my increased Constitution? Or is it because this machine is simply too fucking good? Perhaps both...'
'In the first place, just how does my body change in the real…'
/Shua!/
The doors of the pod opened, making the air from outside rush into the pod.
Abruptly interrupting Dale's thought process.
[You are free to remove your helmet at any time Dale]
/Click!/
"Sigh... Some questions are meant to not be answered." Dale said out loud, disappointed
He removed his helmet and breathed in the 'fresh' air of the room.
"It smells of... Vanilla?"
[Your mother passed by exactly 7 minutes ago and lit up a Vanilla candle after exclaiming this room smelled of sweat] Said the house virtual intelligence
"Mother?..."
"Who's home right now?" Dale asked
[Your mother and father have just returned from work, it seems something happened with each of their workplaces, your brother, on the other hand, returned quite a while ago and is currently inside his Pod]
"Mom and Dad are home?... What time is it?"
'I logged out of the game when it was 00:12 Am, so it should be… Around 5 pm?'
[It's currently 5:24 pm]
"Hm… I got it right."
'Although it's rather late in the afternoon, perhaps I can finally have a decent meal in a more or less normal time instead of eating whatever I find on the fridge whenever I come out of the Pod…'
'Aside from this, taking a look at the development of the other players around the Continent would be a good idea...'
As he walked out of the pod, Dale stretched.
"Phew… What a damn day this was…"
{Information transferring… Complete}
"!!"
'Shit, it took so long I almost forgot about it...'
"Okay... It's here." Dale said with a tense expression
'Every time I come back from the game… The so-called, "Readjustion" of the freaking parameters…'
'And I don't think it'll be any less painful as previous times… No, I'm sure of it, this is going to be as painful as when I stepped out of the Pod for the first time.'
'All because my Stats keep increasing so damn quickly!'
{Accessing… Readjusting configuration based on in-set parameters}
"Here it comes… Any moment now…"
{Biological Core has been processed}
/ZOLT!/
"FUCK!" Exclaimed Dale in pain
/Bam!/
Pain suddenly hit all parts of his body like a thunderbolt, making Dale fall onto his knees.
But this time, the pain did not disappear immediately… His entire body seemed to burn!
His head, his arms, his legs, his lungs… And especially, his heart!
He felt as if someone had stabbed him! It was way worse than when that strange creature in the forest cut his shoulder…
Dale gritted his teeth so damn hard blood started to fall because he bit the tip of his tongue…
This level of pain was greater than the pain he felt during his enlightenment, it was suffocating, and he couldn't even breathe...
The muscles beneath his skin moved, like maggots bellow the leaves, his eyes were red as he cried blood...
The seconds passed, and after 10 eternal seconds, the pain disappeared, leaving a weak and frail Dale behind…
"Haa… Haa…"
Dale had no words on his mind, he couldn't think of any, simply silence, his mind was blank and his eyes were teary…
[Dale? I have detected severe increases in your heart rate, do you need assistance?] Asked the house AI
[Due to your own request, I have disabled my other sensing systems, if you do not reply within 5 seconds I'll reactivate them]
"Urg..."
"N-Haaa…No… J-Just… G…Give me… A moment to f… Fucking breathe…"
[From my analysis, you've been playing Azimuth for the past 24 hours, stopping in between to eat and shower]
[Your body didn't show any signs of abnormalities so far either… Only when you left the Pod]
[It isn't normal to feel severe exhaustion and high heart rates after logging out from Virtual Reality, I recommend you to take a few days off before continuing, and if the symptoms persist, for you to visit a nearby doctor]
Dale rolled his eyes, even this action hurt...
"I'm okay… For now, just monitor my condition, and if something serious happens, you can contact emergency..."
'It isn't bad to have some level of precaution, it may come in handy when I most need it.'
'If I keep up like this I may have a heart attack due to shock…'
'Nevertheless, I should avoid hospitals as much as possible and avoid being analyzed by them...'
[Understood, however, if such a pattern repeats, I'll have to inform Maddam of your condition]
"Oh God, for everything that is sacred, don't tell mom…" Dale said with a helpless smile
'That is the last fucking thing it can do, if she sees me like this, she'll stop me from playing the game for an entire week…'
'No, she'll ban me from even entering the Pod for who knows how long.'
'That would put me at a massive setback… I would lose literally all of my advantages, including the ongoing event…'
'If that happens, I may very well consider moving to another house…'
Dale thought for a moment and arrived at a solution.
'There's only one way to prevent this, and it's logging off more frequently so that the pressure from the readjustion becomes spread instead of concentrated on a single moment…'
'Right now, I can't confirm if that'll work, but at least, it should have some effect based on simple deduction.'
'So for now, I can only hope that'll work, at least until I think of another solution.'
'Also, if I understood what this was in the first place, them perhaps, I could devise some plans to minimise it's effects… But I'll have to leave that for another time.'
'Each moment here is equal to 3 inside the game, I can't waste my time thinking here.'"Alright, time to eat…" Dale said as he walked to the door
'But first… The Green box, I want to see what changed.'
'The Green box is the base of my existence... Although, now that the game launched, if I were to train in real life, would my in-game body change?...'
'Fuck it! I'm asking too many questions.'
Dale opened his other Status as he cleared his head.
{Dale Houston (19-year-old)
Body condition: Healthy-9; Tired-1; Sore-5; Satisfied-7; Energetic-5
Lineology: Mixed race -> North America, South America, European.
Physical Data
-Body: 104(129)
-Cognitive: 79(94)
-Mana: 104(238)
Meaningful Abilities: Spear Technique 3.5-Star; Maintain Emotions 3-Star; Willpower 3-Star; Close quarters Combat 3-Star; Exercise 2-Star; Gaming 1.5-Star; Analysis 1-Star; Study 1-Star; Spacial Awareness 1-Star; Knife Technique 1-Star
Overall comprehensive Analysis: 1.8 out of 10, nothing much changed, there is still a lot to do if he wishes to be recognized.
Big numbers, but no consistency, a body whose potential has reached unbelievable levels… Yet thankfully, it seems his mind is set on the right track.
Basic spearmanship and combat sense after recent enlightenment, paired with a will to improve and learn, given enough time, perhaps something decent will be born.
It seems he's finally learning about how incapable he is and is actively trying to make up for it, good luck.
}
Dale's expression was black…
"Urg…"
'Every damn time, this comprehensive analyses…'
'At least, it became positive, it isn't insulting me completely like last time, it even wished me good luck...'
'Who is writing this?... Oh God more questions...'
He smiled slightly with a dejected look.
'A desire to improve?... Can't help but say this has hit the spot.'
'But those stats and Skills… The Skills changed in accordance with my Status in the game as expected… With the exception of one…'
'Knife Technique went from 0-Star to 1-Star…'
'Despite how irrelevant it is, it does prove me one thing… The fact that my other Skills can and will be affected by the game...'
'Previously, I was conflicted. During the last year, I trained a lot inside virtual reality, and that did alter my Skills, even creating new ones, still, this isn't a normal game…'
Dale shook his head.
"My questions keep increasing..."
He opened the door outside and made his way to the shower.
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Notes