After returning home after a day of work, Serah dropped her bags and rubbed her shoulders. Then, after seeing Adam remove his shoes, she said:
"Go clean your room. It's a mess, and drop the silly thought of the vacation right away!"
"Right, right." Adam sighed, went up the stairs, and entered his room.
After closing the door, he took off his jacket and laid down on the bed, feeling exhausted from the day's events. He would have wished to take a few hours of rest to gather his thoughts.
"Right, the registration." Adam pulled out his phone and went to Mortal Online's website.
There, he went to check the registration times.
It was completely full for the next couple of days, but there was a free slot on the third day—luckily, it also happened to be the day when his VR Pod should arrive.
If someone wanted to play Mortal Online, they couldn't just purchase a VR Pod and hop on the game. One had to register for a certain slot for the tutorial.
Then, the group of players in that slot entered the tutorial together, and it would last for a few weeks. Quite many already dropped the desire to play the game after knowing that the tutorial could last from a few weeks to a month.
Luckily, the VR Pods had a hibernation program that allowed someone to stay that long inside the game. The Pod would take care of the person's needs, such as a need for food, to empty the bladder, etc.
However, after such prolonged time inside the game, one would be suffering from so-called 'The Pod Syndrome.'
It might take hours for the person to be able to walk alone, and they would be hungry and thirsty almost all the time until the syndrome ended. The person would also experience a range of other symptoms, including dizziness, nausea, and disorientation.
That still didn't stop millions from trying the so-called second world, which was unlike anything they had experienced. It was an experience that everyone had to experience at least once.
Adam registered himself in that time slot and then closed his phone.
'I hope the VR pod arrives in time.' He thought to himself. 'I also need to cook up an excuse that allows me to stay at home during that day. It won't be easy; Serah has the instincts of an hawk.'
...
Later that evening, Alice, Serah and a stern-looking man with glasses on his face sat around the dining table.
The man was John Kindforth, Serah's husband and Alice's father.
He flipped through the newspaper and shook his head.
"Again, another murder." He sighed and closed the newspaper. "This killing over the video game is getting out of control!"
"Let's not talk about such a rough subject at the dining table." Serah said while filling her plate with salad and vegetables. "Where is Adam? He'll be left without food if he doesn't soon come!"
"I can go get him." Alice was about to stand up, but then her mother stopped her.
"No need." Serah shook her head. "He had always had a belly full of food. Maybe when he is without food for a day, he'll begin to appreciate it more!"
Alice pouted and moved the fork around the salad with an absent expression. She didn't like the way they treated Adam.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from the stairs as Adam entered the living room.
"Food is getting cold; eat!" Serah shouted and turned back to her food.
Even though she was willing to let him starve for a day, if there was food on the table, she wouldn't stop him from eating.
"Hey, Adam." Alice smiled and pulled out a chair for him next to her. "How was the work? Was it busy?"
"The usual." Adam sat next to her with a smile, but then glanced at Serah and shook his head with a wry smile before occupying himself with the food.
"Hmph." Serah scoffed and used a napkin to wipe her lips. "John, do you know what Adam said today?"
"Well, what?" John asked while cutting a steak on his plate into tiny pieces.
"He asked for a few weeks of vacation. Hah, what nerve!" Serah laughed and angrily ate.
"Oh?" John raised his eyebrow and glanced briefly at Adam. "Well, why do you need vacation for? Is there any particular reason?"
"Who cares about the reason?" Serah waved her hand dismissively. "If he wants to live under this roof, he will work!"
"Mhm." Adam mumbled something while eating and then continued to eat in silence.
John shrugged his shoulders and resumed eating. He wasn't as angry at the thought of vacation as, in his opinion, Adam had worked hard since he began living with them.
Having a few weeks of vacation wouldn't be the end of the world.
Alice looked around the dining table in silence and wondered whether Adam had some place where he wanted to visit during that vacation.
'Maybe he would want to come with me to the hot springs some day.' She thought about it and wanted to ask him sometime. 'It always brings me relaxation. He had been working hard, so it could help him.'
Adam stabbed the fork into the stake, making its juices flow down the plate, mixing with the salad and vegetables.
...
The days went by, and soon, it had been three days since Adam returned to the past.
He had nothing except spending time with Alice and working in Serah's store. He had used his phone to get caught up with the affairs of the current world, and he also started to remember some of the things that would happen in a month's time.
It made him feel strange, as it made him feel like a time traveler, which wasn't too far from the truth.
Unfortunately, he couldn't remember any of the lottery numbers or how the stocks would perform, as those kinds of things didn't interest him back then.
Adam stayed under his blanket, warming himself up, especially his forehead, and trying to make himself look as sick as possible.
At that moment, the door swung wide open.
"Still in the bed?!" Serah screamed and put her hands on her waist angrily. "Get up, we'll have to go to work!"
Adam rolled to his side, only showing his head, and coughed several times in a very convincing manner.
"I-I think I became sick..."
"Sick?" Serah crossed her arms with a frown and approached the bed. "What nonsense are you spouting? I have never seen you sick before."
She leaned over him, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"W-well, l-look at this..." Adam showed his palm, his voice trembling like he was shuddering in the cold.
On his palm, his veins were purple in color. and they looked like veins spreading across his fingers.
Serah's eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly backed off towards the door while covering her mouth with her sleeve.
"A-alright, rest for today!"
Slam—she closed the door in a hurry and seemed to leave the house as the front door opening and closing echoed from the downstairs.
"Heh." Adam sat up and looked at his palm, then wiped the color off his palm.
After the appearance of Dark Plague, a new sickness called Plague Sickness became very frequent. It would make a person's veins turn dark purple, and it was very contiguous.
Luckily, it wasn't as deadly as the Dark Plague, and one would get over it in a few days in most cases.
It would often appear among orphans, as it was rumored that there was something in their DNA that caused their parents to die by Dark Plague.
The ones that survived Dark Plague seemed to be immune, but Serah didn't want to take any risks and quickly stormed off the building as she was a clean freak.
"Whew, if she had checked my temperature, I would've been caught." Adam laughed and stood up with a slight dance.
"All right, the VR Pod should arrive in a few hours.
"Then it's time for the Mortal Online!"