Robin cast a sidelong glance at his inventory, taking in the impressive arsenal of weapons and defensive gear he had collected over the years, the suits of armour he had spent considerable time crafting and collecting all the essential components required to make the most formidable versions of those, and the other peculiar items he had gathered on his digital journeys.
Almost everything here was either too dangerous or too large to get them back to the actual world, and at the moment, he had no use for most. He kept scrolling through his inventory, rejecting most items as impractical; suddenly he reached the section of his inventory that piqued his interest, the consumables. He had collected an array of different kinds of consumables, from special witcher-only brews to health tonics, apples bread, and even the whimsical addition of chicken drumsticks by the game developers, filling up the entire inventory block.
Witchers' potions posed serious health risks. They were designed for witchers, who undergo mutagenesis in their training. Even then they only use these in battle, as they did have many negative side effects. Also they were toxic and even witchers had a threshold of toxicity tolerance and cannot use multiple potions together.
It was too dangerous for Robin to attempt to get those potions to work in the real world. He could be seriously harmed just by coming into contact with or smelling these potions. The consumables were what piqued his curiosity.
The apple!! The bread!! The chicken drumstick!!! Oh yeah, the game developers had apparently decided to add chicken legs to the eatables. In The Witcher, food had a supporting role due to its ability to speed up health recovery.
During the conflict, this still held true.
Try to picture yourself facing off against a monster while simultaneously eating a chicken leg and holding a silver sword in your right hand. When imagining this situation, Robin would invariably crack a grin.
Thinking back on this, he cautiously pulled an apple out of the stock.
The apple, as usual, was little, just big enough to hold two of his fingers. He did not take the apple away from the table. The apple grew in size after that second. That apple was bright red and luscious looking. Robin thought this apple was more picture-perfect than any other he had seen in ads.
Experiment time!!
Experiment No. 1
Subject: Robin
Items to be explored with An apple from the Witcher game
How to experiment: Eat the god-damn apple
Robin was about to do something which he never thought he would do before. He was both afraid and excited. He inhaled deeply and raised the fruit to his lips. Before he ate it, he needed to take a whiff of it.
Smelling like a fresh apple, it was spot on. Actually, the apple smelled better than any other apple ever could. The necessary dose of bravery was taken, and he tried it. As the flesh melted on his tongue, his taste buds contacted the neurons in his brain for the first time.
'This is the best apple I have ever tasted in my entire life.'
This was the current transmission from his brain. Upon finishing his first serving, Robin did not think twice about having another. And in less than a minute, he had eaten the entire apple, seeds and all.
Robin didn't have any wounds to see if the apple would heal them as it did for Geralt's health metre. If that turned out to be true, it would be nothing short of amazing. Just an apple and a chicken leg are all he needs to revolutionise the medical field.
He would be hailed as the next big thing after Newton. Physicists would never be the same thanks to one apple, and doctors would never be the same thanks to another.
Absolutely not! He was not that naive! It was the modern day, and he was helpless in the face of society. YET!
There were many other valuable objects in the inventory, such as a sapphire and a gold nugget, that could make him wealthy in a matter of days, but pursuing those options could be risky. He was completely unconcerned with financial matters at the moment.
Now that he knew he could draw anything, including food, he was confident that, so long as his phone and computer had enough juice, he would never be hungry again.
As a result, Robin had to deal with not one, but two issues.
Among those was safety. The safety of our hero was paramount at this time. Having anything that could guarantee his safety in his hands was a must. And for that, he required the use of his keen sense of hearing and sight. And especially so in cyberspace.
The only digital defence against his threats was artificial intelligence. Numerous ideas came to mind as he considered artificial intelligence. The Red Queen from Resident Evil, Cortana and Guilty Spark from Halo. JARVIS, a fictional artificial intelligence, also came to mind.
And would it be safe for Robin to introduce artificial intelligence into the real world? Let's not consider the terrible Red Queen, the sour Halo sequels' Cortana, or the unthinkable JARVIS.
And to him, possessing power was even more crucial. He had seen enough films and played enough video games to not tune it out. Power was his number one goal. He would never have to face the other end of a rifle if he had the power to prevent it.
Here, strength might come from anywhere. Physique prowess, nimbleness, quickness, and maybe even magic. He needed to find a way to acquire power through games. He wasn't sure if he would be successful in this quest, but he would try his best.
As he searched on Google for games that could aid him in his progress, a number of ideas whirled about in his head. Lost in thought, he failed to see that night had fallen.
6 pm.
At last, the sun had set, and Robin knew it was nighttime. That night was pitch black! It's time to put down the gun. His mom was in her room watching television from her bed so it was easy to sneak away the M4 without her noticing! No way would he put himself in danger like that. Since the M4 was small enough, he stowed it away in his luggage. In a couple of seconds, Robin was ready and making his way stealthily to the front entrance, carrying the bag.
He yelled as soon as he laced his shoes.
"Mom, I am going out for some work?"
"Do you have work, or are you going to see your cousin?" Mom yelled back.
"No, I have to get to some other tasks; I'm taking the car and won't be back for about an hour."
"OK, just get home in time for dinner ."
"Sure!!"
He grew up with a mother who, like Robin, was too slothful to get out of bed and respond to him in person but instead mimicked his antics by shouting. Robin retrieved his M4 from his backpack and exited the lift with it. Every one of the residents in their high-rise complex had their own garage.
He placed the bag on the passenger side seat, started the car, and drove away. On this drive to his university, he needed to make extra sure that he wouldn't be pulled over by traffic police. Of course, he's never been stopped by them before.
He was a responsible driver who never broke the law. It took him 20 minutes of driving, but he eventually arrived at his destination.
The path was tiny, but it led straight to the modest temple at the top of the mountain behind the university. People normally come here during daylight. Trees and heavy bushes lined the opposite side of the street. Insects were making noises and he could hear the faint buzzing of mosquitoes.
No one travelled along the route late at night. It was completely dark outside; the only light on the road came from the car's headlight. As he sat in his car, Robin made sure no one was approaching from either the front or the back. After waiting for two minutes, he retrieved the bulky M4 from his backpack.
He put the firearm away and stumbled through the thick brush to get a few metres away from the road.
"Farewell, M4. It was great working with you, and I appreciate you being the tool that got me started on the path to mastery."
His visit ended, and he returned to his car. His other nagging concern required immediate attention.
In the mobile version of PUBG, he went directly to the vehicles menu. He had to try and get a vehicle out there. He located the vintage Dacia and lifted it with a single finger.
In the end, he prevailed.
The car was brought back and now it was in his hand!!