Ever since Lucas discovered he could bring game skills into the real world, his life had taken a complete turn—well, at least in how he thought about things.
Every day, he still lounged on the couch, phone in hand, eyes glued to the screen, but his mind wasn't stuck in the same lazy routine anymore.
Even though he had something close to a "superpower" now, Lucas wasn't rushing off to take on real-world dungeons.
Nope, he stuck to his golden rule: caution above all.
In his world, you only get one life, and no game glory was worth risking that.
To stay alive and kicking, Lucas knew he needed to be in total control, especially now that he had such dangerous power at his fingertips.
He decided that before he jumped into any real-life danger, he'd better figure out exactly how these skills worked.
Lucas was back on the couch, of course, with his trusty phone in hand.
Today's mission was clear—keep testing that confusing "Skill Extraction" feature in the virtual dungeon. Since this thing could drag game skills into real life, he had to know all the details.
The virtual dungeon felt as familiar as ever.
Lucas dove into the "Goblin Nest," a low-level dungeon he had run a million times.
The monsters were weak, perfect for his experiments. As he guided his character through the goblin slaying, his mind was busy figuring out how to trigger Skill Extraction again.
"That last Fire Blast was a fluke. This time, I've gotta get it right," Lucas muttered to himself.
He kept firing off Fire Blast, paying close attention to the cooldown time, the damage, and the little changes in the skill icon.
Just like he guessed, the cooldown in the game was synced with the cooldown in real life.
Once he used a skill—whether in the game or out—it couldn't be used again until the cooldown timer ran out.
"So that means I can't just spam skills in the real world," Lucas murmured, already forming a plan.
He decided to test more skills to see if he could extract them too.
Scanning his character's skill list, Lucas picked a few different types of skills, like a dodge move and a buff, to see if they could work in the real world like Fire Blast.
"If I can extract all these, I'll have endless possibilities in real life!" The thought excited him, but he kept his cool.
He knew that only careful, step-by-step testing would keep him safe from any unseen dangers.
He activated the dodge skill, watching his virtual character dash out of the way of a goblin attack.
Lucas stared at the screen, feeling a mix of hope and nerves.
If he could pull this move off in real life, it'd be like having a teleport ability!
But, reality wasn't that simple.
Lucas tried to extract the dodge skill into the real world, but nothing happened.
The skill icon on his phone flickered, but there was no feedback like with Fire Blast. He frowned, a bit disappointed.
"Looks like not every skill can be extracted," he muttered. Clearly, the Skill Extraction feature had some rules, but those rules were still fuzzy.
To test his theory, Lucas tried a few other skills, but none of them worked either.
This confirmed his suspicion: the Skill Extraction wasn't as limitless as he'd hoped.
So far, Fire Blast was the only skill that worked in real life.
"Well, even just one working skill is a pretty big deal," he thought, trying to keep himself from feeling too down.
The line between the game and reality was thin and fragile, and rushing things could easily land him in serious trouble.
After testing a few more skills, Lucas turned his attention back to Fire Blast. Since it was the only skill that could cross into the real world, he needed to learn everything about it.
"I've gotta figure out if there's any difference between Fire Blast in the game and in real life," Lucas thought, planning his next experiment.
He wasn't ready to tackle real-world dungeons yet, so he'd practice in a safe space first.
Lucas raised his hand, staring at his palm.
The cooldown had ended, and he was ready to use Fire Blast again.
He hesitated for a moment, then mimicked the motions he'd use in the game.
Sure enough, flames shot out of his hand and hit the wall, leaving another scorched mark in the room.
The moment the fire burst out, the familiar burnt smell filled the air, and the wall turned black where the blast had landed.
"Looks pretty much the same as in the game…" Lucas mumbled, but then he noticed something different—the Fire Blast in real life was actually stronger, and the fire shot out faster than in the game.
That surprised him and made him curious.
"Why is the real-world skill stronger than the one in the game?" Lucas started thinking hard about that.
He compared the game and real-life versions of the skill and found that while the in-game Fire Blast had a smaller blast radius, the real-world one was much bigger and packed more punch.
"Maybe the rules of the real world are different?" Lucas frowned, intrigued.
It seemed that in the real world, skills weren't completely bound by the game's limits—something else was affecting their power.
Lucas realized he needed more time to figure out these differences and the rules behind them.
The transition between the game and reality wasn't as simple as it seemed.
"I'd better be extra careful and not go throwing skills around in the real world," he reminded himself.
Lucas continued grinding in the virtual dungeon, testing Fire Blast in various situations.
After several experiments, he came up with a few key takeaways:
The cooldown is synced between the real and virtual worlds. No matter where he uses a skill, the cooldown applies to both worlds.
Skills are stronger in the real world. Fire Blast in reality had a bigger explosion and did more damage than in the game.
Using skills in reality drains energy.
In the game, using a skill just took away some mana, but in real life, Lucas felt tired after each use, like it took a physical toll. That part worried him—it meant there was a hidden cost to using these powers in the real world.
He kept thinking back to the slight fatigue he felt after casting Fire Blast.
That tiredness made him realize that using skills in reality wasn't as free of consequences as it was in the game. That was another reason he stayed cautious.
"Yeah, I definitely can't go wild with these skills in real life," Lucas decided.
He wouldn't rely on them unless he fully understood the rules and the costs involved.
As Lucas dug deeper into his testing, he began to realize something—sooner or later, he'd have to face a real-world dungeon.
Even though he was doing all this testing in the game, the pull of real-world dungeons was always there, in the back of his mind.
"If I really want to figure out everything about Skill Extraction, I'll need to try it in a real dungeon," Lucas frowned, feeling conflicted.
By nature, Lucas was cautious and didn't like taking risks. But this was different—there was huge power hidden in those real-world dungeons, and if he wanted to fully unlock the secrets of Skill Extraction, he might have to dive in and explore it himself.
But he also knew that real-world dungeons were nothing like virtual ones.
No matter how good he got in the game, real monsters were living, breathing, and deadly. One wrong move could cost him everything.
To make sure he was ready for the real world, Lucas decided to keep grinding in the virtual world until he had every detail down pat.
Only then would he even consider stepping into the real thing.
He pulled up some forums and started reading posts from high-level players talking about real-world dungeons.
They were full of tips, strategies for traps, and advice on dealing with certain monsters.
Lucas studied every post carefully, jotting down notes on his phone when something useful came up.
"The more prepared I am, the better my chances of surviving," Lucas told himself.
Even though he didn't want to take risks, he knew that one day, he'd have to step into a real-world dungeon.
After doing his research, Lucas went back to his game, grinding and practicing.
He knew that only by constantly testing and refining his skills in both worlds would he avoid any fatal mistakes.
As time went on, Lucas got better and better with his skills, and his understanding of Skill Extraction grew deeper.
He wasn't rushing into any real-world dungeons, though.
He stuck to a careful, steady approach, making sure he had everything figured out.
He kept his cautious mindset, even though a small part of him itched for adventure.
But whenever he thought about the dangers of the real world, he forced himself to stay grounded.
"Not yet," Lucas told himself. When the time came, and he felt completely ready, that's when he'd take the leap into a real-world dungeon.