My head felt like I had an elephant ballet on it and the sudden hiss of the capsule opening up made it pound even more. I felt like crap, I had been in the game for two full in-game days and my brain was at its limit.
With the room spinning, I climbed out of the capsule and stumbled my way to the ensuite bathroom, as soon as I did, my stomach churned, and I just managed to reach the toilet before my old food came up to say hello.
It took a few minutes until the room stopped spinning and my stomach to stop churning. Finally felt well enough to have a shower, I was happy to clean off the suspension gel and the clammy feeling that had gripped my body.
By the time I showered and got dressed, it was around six in the evening. Seeing the time, my body woke up and grumbled at me for food, even though I had just eaten in the game and was slightly bored of the idea of eating again, but I couldn't ignore my body. I needed to get fit and in shape, and to do that, I needed to eat regularly.
As I exited the capsule café, I noticed the gormless faces of the evening staff behind the counter but didn't bother them. I knew just as much as they did how much it can start to make you envy the dead, working the evening shift.
I walked the high street, not only to find somewhere to eat but also to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.
It was strange and a little bit jarring to be in such a different world within such a short space of time. And not having or sensing magic made me feel almost naked, or did I feel empty? I couldn't quite put my finger on it. But either way, I didn't like it.
After a few minutes, my feet stopped in front of a diner and even though it was still early evening, it wasn't particularly busy. I have been to this place before with my parents for my university graduation. At the time, they were both on their phones, answering emails and whatnot, so all I could remember was the food as I was used to their absent nature and could get away with ordering as much food as I wanted.
Opening the front door, I was greeted with the soft sounds of old radio hits playing in the background and the few conversations of the patrons who sparsely filled the bleak looking booths and interior.
After being greeted and seated, I was handed a menu that sent pangs of nostalgia ringing through my body. Opening the slightly sticky, laminated menu, which I can only assume was sticky because of the cheap cleaning fluids they use here, and not that the cleaning here is subpar.
The sea of stock images and set pictures of the food that was supposed to be on this menu made my stomach growl menacingly. So, to appease the tummy tyrant, I ordered a little too much food for just one person, that being: a medium cheese pizza with a side of a chicken salad. A beef burger and fries. And to wash it down, a large glass of cola.
Needless to say, the waitress was dumbfounded with my large order, but still took my order like normal.
With my order being prepared, I absentmindedly stared out the window, watching the people go by. I could use this time to plan what I was going to do next in Realms or set things up in the real world. But my head, brain and body were tired and achy and needed rest so, I just stared out into the passing world and simply turned my brain off.
Seconds multiplied into minutes, and minutes multiplied until my absent mind was pulled back to reality by the hot plates of food being placed on the table. After thanking the waitress, I began to quench my hunger.
After ten minutes, I made a discovery, I didn't over-order, I was able to eat far more than I usually eat. However, I still had the amount left to feed two people strewed about on the myriad of plates.
Though, for some reason, as the minutes passed, I started to garner the attention of the staff and patrons. Perhaps they thought I was some competitive eater, or the image of a scrawny man eating a giant amount of food was a strange sight to see and one that simply had to witness.
Either way, their attention faded with the last bite was finished. And now, all that was left was to sit and digest my meal. The last dregs of my soda were all that was left in front of me.
'Should I return to the capsule café?' My mind poised a question, as I sat alone in my booth. I thought that maybe it was down to me pushing myself too much in both worlds, but that would be a lie.
In fact, my call with Aunty Jean had been playing on my mind. Why else would I have come to a place where I didn't have the best memories, it certainly wasn't the food.
No, it was because I dreaded seeing my parents. Every time we met, it was like strangers on a bus, sitting next to each other only for convenience. But I promised Aunty Jean that I would go, the question was when. For the next few days, I wanted to grind as I had just started to get to grips with magic and I was in serious need of money.
Plus, when players start to reach Novrad things will start to bleed into the real world. This means that you can make money both in the game and in real life, simply because people will start to get competitive and as an alchemist, I could make quite the sum. Of course, others will have the same idea of becoming an alchemist. But with my magic, I'll be the only player who could make more potent potions than anyone else. Not to mention it'll be cheaper for me as well.
'So, I don't really have the time to see my parents just yet.' I thought as I settled the bill and headed back to the café with a renewed focus. Of course, I didn't exactly fight against my decision.
As I was walking through the, now, quiet streets, I started to feel the familiar tingle at the back of my neck. I scratched it on reflex but then stopped in my tracks.
'That was mana sense, wasn't it?' The idea sent my mind racing. There should be almost a year until mana appears on earth. I could understand it being a few weeks or even a month or two early, but this was far too soon.
I tried for a few seconds to focus and see if I could sense if there really was any mana bleeding through into the world. But as I focused as hard as I could, even blocking out the murmurs of those who walked past and wondered who the madman, who just stopped in the middle of the street, was doing. But still, I couldn't sense anything wrong, only my cheeks burning in embarrassment.
'I must have played too much of Realms these days.' Quickly picking up my pace, I quickly scurried back to the capsule café. Where the gormless expression of the night staff greeted me once more.
After buying myself an iced coffee from the onsite café, I headed back to my room where I got changed into a suit and sat checking through my phone. I found that there was already a Realms forum. There wasn't much on it at the moment, just people talking about what they've found and their opinions on the game.
In all honesty, there wasn't much useful information to read, but I did gleam that there were some players who had started to venture further from the beginner village. However, without any information about how far the nearest city was, a lot of people were more hesitant to leave. Especially when most of the NPCs didn't leave the village, thus didn't know anything about the outside world. And those who did, wouldn't tell just anyone simply because they asked.
Downing the remains of my iced coffee, I climbed into the capsule and dove back into Realms. Now with the pressure of players in pursuit, I had even more of a clear goal in mind and that was to establish myself in Novrad as both an accomplished adventurer and alchemist to earn more money that I knew what to do with and become a master of magic.