Dalvin pushed himself up from the floor and looked around his familiar surroundings that were now somewhat unfamiliar. He had spent the most intense 24 hours of his life, and just by feeling the alienation he felt toward his own living space made him understand that he had been irreversibly changed.
Before anything else, Dalvin took off his ruined and mucky clothes before throwing them into the bin. He wasn't even going to try and wash them; they were far too ruined for even a homeless person to wear in peace.
He then walked into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. What he saw was vastly different from what he remembered. From a slightly unhealthy and pudgy young man who was a 5.5 out of 10, he was now a slim and slightly muscular young man of the same features who was easily a 7.5 out of ten.
His caramel skin was glowing with a certain shine that spoke of healthiness, and his usually messy short hair now looked extremely stylish on the current him. His chin, which was beginning to grow a second level, was now firm and developed.
The current him was the version of themselves every slightly unfit person wished they could become, achieving the so-called 'glow-up' where their diminished attractiveness and self-esteem rose due to achieving a fit physique.
Even the Dalvin of before would have been utterly satisfied with this, but the current him knew that things were just starting. Not only that, his situation was even more dire than he had ever thought, with the period of time he had now being only a respite at best.
Apart from the chiseled nakedness was also a lot of grime and muck that made him look like he had played with a bunch of pigs in the sty, and while he couldn't detect it in the prison because the entire environment was like that, in his pristine apartment, he could smell his unbearable stench.
As such, he did not waste any more time and entered his shower, thoroughly washing himself down from head to toe. Only when he smelled soapy and clean did he come out, wipe himself down, and then dress up.
Immediately, he switched on his computer as he did not have his phone anymore. Whether it had disintegrated or had become the medium which connected him to the game, he did not exactly know.
The computer booted up the half-finished artwork commission he had been too lazy to work on, and looking at it now, Dalvin couldn't help but feel extremely emotional. It all seemed too silly and petty to him now, but it was his life just a day ago.
However, Dalvin's face changed when he glanced at the time and was left flabbergasted. According to his computer's clock, which was what he intended to check when he booted it, it was now 3:30 pm.
Given the fact that he had spent about 30 minutes or less bathing, this alluded to the fact that he really returned at 3 pm in the afternoon on this side too. Yet what left him thoroughly speechless was the date.
It was the exact same date as previously, the 5th of February!
If his computer was not messing around, then not a single moment had passed on Earth while he was in the other world, the world of Tianzi!
Of course, Dalvin would not take this at face value and immediately checked news sites, but could only slump in his chair when he saw them affirm what his computer was telling him. This made him even wonder if time would pass on Tianzi as well.
Did this mean he would effectively be shuffling through both worlds while spending twice the time he would have otherwise? This reminded him of a popular argument about time ability users, in that the danger they faced was aging due to their abilities, rather than it backfiring.
Dalvin rubbed his face and knew he couldn't think about all this right now since he first had to see whether time passed in Tianzi. More than that, now that he was home, he needed to draw up a game plan for when he was inevitably forced to return to Tianzi, specifically his cell in the Immortal Locking Prison.
Initially, he had cooked up many ideas while daydreaming in the prison, and it was now time to test out whether they would work. First things first, Dalvin lifted up something that followed him out of the world of Tianzi and into the real one, the spatial pouch from Feng Qi.
Accessing it using his spatial abilities, he saw that the pills bottles and the notebook were still inside, something which made him sigh with relief. Even though he technically did not need the spatial pouch to take things between both worlds, it was better than not to have it.
Dalvin placed it gently on the table and then breathed out before attempting to access the system. As long as he could access the interface on Earth too, about 70% of his worries would be resolved and most of his plans to alleviate his situation could be carried out.
[Name: Dalvin
Race: Human
Physique: Spacetime Immortal Body (10% Awakened)
Age: 21
—————————————
Martial Arts Realm: Skin Tempering Realm (Early)
Martial Arts Technique: Earthquake Fist (Low-grade Human Rank)
Blood Qi: 63/200 (Unable to Breakthrough)
—————————————
Cultivation Realm: Mortal (None)
Cultivation Mantra: None
Cultivation Base: 0/100 (Unable to Breakthrough)
—————————————
Power: 10.7
Qi: 10.5
Fortitude: 10.6
—————————————
Bloodline energy: 100%. (Next 1% in 00:00:00)
…]
Upon seeing the familiar numbers and categories, Dalvin's face broke into a smile. With the presence of the system here, he could probably breakthrough on Earth when the need arose, because not every time he broke through in Tianzi could be safe and without danger.
Dalvin then activated blink and was able to shift about his room freely, but this did not surprise him. He could use blink manually without the presence of the system, but simulation could only be initiated using the interface currently.
As such, Dalvin tried it to see if it would work here.
[3:34 pm. You checked your various tools and methods to see that everything was in order. Now that you were home and in a safe place, it was time to try out some things.]
[3:35 pm. You left your apartment block and walked to the nearest pharmacy. Despite having lived in this area for a while, you never actually passed through here for anything, so this was your first time in the shop.]
[3:36 pm. There was a receptionist who was a young pretty lady and a pharmacist who was undoubtedly her mother given the similarity in looks, being older and very plump. You approached the counter with a smile that dazzled both women and asked for three things: protein shakes, supplements, and Viagra.]
[3:37 pm. The first two requests did not make them react much as it seemed plausible given your current physique, but the young lady blushed when they heard your third request while her mother looked skeptical. What could a young man who is so healthy and well-built like you need with Viagra?]
[3:38 pm. Still, she was a professional and brought the various drugs from their respective shelves, recommending different types and brands of each to you, which you carefully selected after much discussion and then purchased.]
[3:40 pm. You left the pharmacy with an expectant expression on your face. You then walked to the nearest mall to find an electronics store to purchase a new phone for communication as well as to find one of your main targets, a weapons store.]