As soon as Alex heard that sweet sound, he felt a sudden rush, and he knew that his time was up. His virtual character immediately fell like a ragdoll, and his real-life body was awakening. His eyes were now slowly opening up, and with a quick look at his surroundings, he could see he was back in the real world.
The decrepit, graffiti-filled walls where he decided to eat his meal surrounded him.
Alex's eyes flickered open, the world coming into focus. He was back in the alley, his body tingling with a strange energy.
"Wow, that was the greatest nap I've ever had," he thought, slowly getting to his feet. He noticed something different immediately – his body felt more coordinated, more capable.
The skills he honed in his dream, battling boars and wolves, seemed to have synchronized with his real body. He swung his arms, feeling a newfound agility.
"I must have leveled up in real life. I feel significantly better. Look at me now, mama, your boy is now a Level 2 and already a semi-pro boar buster," he joked to himself.
As he walked, he felt his thighs – no longer the twiggy appendages he was used to; they were a tad more muscular.
"Well, at least I won't be mistaken for a flamingo anymore," he mused, but he couldn't help noticing the comical imbalance.
His upper body still looked like it belonged to a junior bodybuilder, while his legs suggested a semi-malnourished orphan.
"All I need is a cape, and I could be a superhero... Captain Unbalanced!"
Despite the humor he found in his situation, deep down, Alex felt the weight of his reality. Living alone since he was six had forced him to grow up fast. He learned to cook, albeit questionably, clean, and fend for himself in a world that wasn't kind to orphans.
"Master chef, cleaner, and now a monster hunter – talk about a resume for a 10-and-a-half-year-old," he thought wryly.
His ambitions, though, went beyond just surviving. Since losing his parents, Alex had harbored a burning desire to become someone significant, someone his parents would be proud of.
"I might be young, but I'm not ordinary," he often reminded himself.
As Alex stepped out of the alley, the city of Greenhaven sprawled before him, a mosaic of the old world and the new. He felt like a new man-boy.
Making sure his hoodie was still intact, he pulled the zipper up and started walking, noticing now that his senses were a tad more sharpened. If before his hearing was capable of picking up chatter from a few yards away, now it was closer to a dozen yards.
His eyesight, in particular, had become more perceptive. He was able to see a little clearer, and if he really focused, he could actually see individual pores, something like a magnifying glass.
Although it hurt his brain when he tried this trick.
"This is freaking cool…" Alex thought.
The streets were a symphony of sounds: vendors calling out their wares, children playing in the distance, and the occasional buzz of a motorbike zipping past. The sky above was a vast expanse of blue, dotted with a few lazy clouds, offering a stark contrast to the grimy alley he'd just left.
Eager to test his newfound abilities, Alex decided to take a quick sprint.
"Let's see how fast these new legs can go," he thought, a mischievous glint in his eye.
He started running, initially amazed at his own speed.
"Whoa, I'm like a turbo-charged cheetah!" he exclaimed, feeling the wind whip past him. Buildings and people became a blur as he zoomed through the streets, his heart pounding with exhilaration.
He was running as fast as he did when he was running for his life against the wolves in the dream.
But as he tried to slow down, Alex realized he hadn't thought this through. With his top-heavy physique, stopping was like trying to halt a runaway train.
"Uh-oh," he muttered, as his legs scrambled to keep up with his momentum. Inevitably, he toppled over, rolling on the pavement in a comical display of arms and legs flailing. He came to a stop, lying on his back, staring up at the sky.
"Well, that was graceful," he chuckled to himself, feeling a bit like a bobblehead toy that had been spun too fast.
Brushing himself off, Alex couldn't help but laugh at his own antics.
"Note to self: work on the brakes," he said, still chuckling. His tumble hadn't gone unnoticed, and a few passersby gave him curious glances. Alex just waved them off with a sheepish grin,
"Just practicing for the circus!" while making sure his hoodie kept his head fully covered up.
As he continued his walk, Alex's mind wandered back to his life since he'd lost his parents. He thought about the little apartment that the government had provided him, his small world filled with second-hand furniture and a stash of old comic books. He remembered the nights spent gazing out the window, imagining adventures in distant lands, adventures he now seemed to be living.
"I've always wanted more, something bigger than just surviving," he mused.
"Maybe this transformation, these powers, are actually a blessing. Sure, I currently look like a freak, but if my thinking is right, maybe I can become normal-looking again, all the while gaining the strength needed to do whatever the heck I want. If I want to be a hero, a hunter, a villain, whatever, the main thing is I can be anything I choose to be. I can have my very own story. Maybe I can figure out what the heck this ring is, if it's even related to this whole thing, and what actually happened to my parents."
His heart swelled with a mix of hope and determination. He had a lot to learn and a long way to go, but for the first time, he felt like he was on the path to becoming something more than just an orphan.
While Alex was so preoccupied with what was going on with his physical body, he never once realized that every time he felt excited, he would continue to rub the ring on his thumb unconsciously.
And while he was rubbing it, the ring would faintly glow, giving a relaxing warmth around his body, as if the ring was also feeding off Alex's excitement.