Shelley's house was a two-story standalone building.
The first floor consisted of a small living room, a kitchen, and a storage room.
The second floor had three bedrooms, two of which were vacant since Shelley lived alone.
The rooms were incredibly messy, indicating that Shelley wasn't one to clean up. After all, she relied on her gun to solve cases, so tidying up her home wasn't a priority.
Well, who needs a tidy home when your job is to execute criminals? It's not like she can spare the time for organizing.
Soon enough, Luke found himself lying on the bed in his room.
He let out a long sigh.
Recalling the events of the day, it was a damn mess!
The sound of someone taking a shower came from the neighboring bathroom. Luke didn't let his mind wander and instead focused on his consciousness.
He observed the phone.
The battery was at 61%.
All the app icons on the screen were grayed out, except for the "Era" client, which was in color.
It was even highlighted, seemingly urging him to click on it.
I'm inside this game world now. Can I still play the game?
Luke clicked on the "Era" icon.
It really... worked!
The game interface opened up swiftly.
His created character stood on the login screen—a female elf.
Clear Sky: Level 120 (Max Level)
Race: Elf
Bloodline: Fierce War Chant (A branch of the Grassland Elves, known for their belligerence due to cohabitation with the orcs. Boosts combat willpower by 10%, maintaining clarity even in a state of frenzy.)
Enhanced Bloodline: Wings of Time and Space (A gift from the Elf's main deity, obtained through a level 80 bloodline strengthening task. Allows limited alteration and interference with time and space.)
Alchemical Modification: Elemental Fusion Reactor (Heart) (Efficient acquisition and release of energy)
Transcendent Transplant: Angel's Right Arm (Light Elementalized, the right arm can unleash holy combat skills. Increases damage to non-light elemental creatures by 15% and to evil creatures by 50%.)
Constellation: Aquarius (One of the twelve golden constellations, greatly enhances recovery capabilities, and boosts water and ice-based combat skills and spells by 15%. Can increase local humidity, causing localized rainfall.)
Affinity Element: Ice
Unique Combat Skill: Ice Dance Garden (Wide-range ice attribute attack, 50% increase in movement speed on ice)
...
This was Luke's character that he had painstakingly developed in "Era" over nearly ten years. While he wasn't considered the top player in the community, he was definitely skilled.
Especially in the past three years, he had spent a considerable amount of money on the account to make high-quality videos, fine-tuning the character's attributes and skill system.
Looking at the character he had cultivated with his blood, sweat, and money, he couldn't help but feel infinite emotions.
Since he had some free time now and it seemed he could play the game through his consciousness in the phone, why not do some daily quests and dungeon runs before bed?
Luke chose to enter "Era."
A prompt appeared.
[Prompt: Logging in with your character will consume a significant amount of phone battery. Using 100% battery as a reference (a level 120 character can exist for 10 seconds, a level 100 character for 10 minutes, an 80-level character for 100 minutes, and characters below level 60 can exist for 1000 minutes), your character will be unable to charge the phone during the login period.
The actual duration of character login is based on the remaining battery percentage.
If the battery reaches zero, the character will be forcibly logged out.
Recharging from 0-100% requires 24 hours.]
What does this mean? A max-level character drains the battery so quickly!
Even a level 100 character can only play for 10 minutes, which isn't even enough time for a dungeon run.
80 levels give you a mere 100 minutes, just under two hours.
Level 60 has plenty of time, but what's the point of going in... to get beaten up?
After contemplating for a moment, Luke decided to lower the character's level to 60.
Let's see what's inside without the internet. If there's an event he can't handle, he can always adjust the level later.
The character's level was adjusted.
The 60-level character appeared less intimidating than the 120-level one, lacking that overwhelming aura and appearing rather ordinary.
The character slowly faded away.
Then, a map unfolded before him.
[Due to your actual location being in the Sea Cape District of Furious Waves City in the Golden Shield Empire, the map of this area is illuminated for you, and your created character can use the 36 virtual teleportation anchors in the Sea Cape District.
Prompt: The virtual teleportation anchors can only be seen and used by the characters you create.
Prompt: If your created character dies, it requires 100% battery to revive.
Prompt: When operating your character, make sure you are in a safe location or have the ability to ensure your own safety.]
Luke located his position on the map and selected a nearby virtual teleportation anchor.
What will happen?
He chose to enter.
[Character entering...]
Luke felt his consciousness suddenly enveloped in darkness, and then his perspective shifted to a clock tower.
I...
I've come out!
No, wait. I haven't come out. I have two perspectives.
Luke was certain he was still lying in bed in Shelley's house, with the sound of water running in the adjacent bathroom.
But at the same time, his consciousness was connected to another perspective.
Through that perspective, he could see...
Luke controlled the extra perspective in his consciousness, able to rotate it just like controlling his own body, and saw Shelley's house.
Luke immediately shifted his consciousness back and quickly opened the curtains, revealing a person standing on a clock tower less than 200 meters away.
A slender woman.
She wore the fashion he had spent 648 credits on, her right arm covered with a black lace long-sleeved glove to conceal the Angel's Right Arm. Two curved short swords were symmetrically sheathed at her waist.
In the moonlight, he could see her short, emerald-green hair, and the distinctive pointed ears of an elf.
She was Clear Sky, the character he had developed over ten years in "Era."
But how could Clear Sky be here!
And...
Luke returned to the perspective in his consciousness.
Through Clear Sky's eyes, he saw himself leaning against the window, gazing in this direction.
His eyes looked droopy, severely affecting his appearance.
In that moment, Luke faced off against himself through the two perspectives, creating a unique and spine-chilling sensation.
The neighboring Shelley seemed to have heard something and asked, "Chief, is there something wrong?"
"It's nothing." Luke closed the curtains and said, "I remembered the Crown Princess, couldn't fall asleep."
"Chief, you truly are a loyal man."
"Heh, it's necessary. Goodnight, Shelley."
"Goodnight, Chief."
Hearing no further sounds from next door, Luke closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, his consciousness returning to Clear Sky.