Fifteen minutes later. The doorbell rang. Joe came out to receive his pizza from the driver in a red uniform.
It was nothing out of the ordinary and he received the pizza without any trouble.
Joe brought the pizza back into the apartment and opened it up.
It was real, edible and very tasty.
"Damn! It tastes way better than where I'm working!" Joe chugged the entire pizza in his belly very quickly. It had been a long time since he had a full delicious meal like this.
"So it is real. The Honey Wallet at least. I wonder if there are any other tutorials I can trigger…"
Joe opened the Status tab in the Honey App again. He saw a question mark next to his current resident.
Joe clicked on the question mark (?).
[NAME]: Apartment A7
[LEVEL]: 0
[COST]: Free (Starter Residence)
[DESCRIPTION]: A one-bedroom studio in a group of identical apartments with a small bathroom that has a toilet and shower inside. The walls are thin, the carpet is worn, and the window looks out to an old run-down hotel with broken neon signs.
[Location]: The Commons in Far Ark.
[Social Cred Bonus]: None.
[Training Room Slots]: 1
[Training Rooms]: (?)
1. The Doorway Bar: A simple, sturdy metal pull-up bar installed in the hallway doorway. Can be used to train STAMINA.
Joe clicked on the question mark (?) next to the training rooms.
[Training Rooms are an exclusive features to residence provided by The Honey Game]
[Player can use the Training Rooms one per day to increase the dedicated attribute(s)]
[Training Rooms of level 0 Residences increase 1 point of attribute per training session]
[Training Rooms can be removed and replaced]
[TIPS]: Using the Training Rooms will provide much better growth than actual training.
Joe walked to the small hallway in front of the main door leading outside. He looked up to it and saw a metal bar installed on the ceiling.
"I can gain one stamina just by using this metal bar? It isn't even an actual training room!"
Joe rolled his eyes but still grabbed the metal bar. He knew he wasn't able to do any pull ups so he just hung there.
A window popped up in front of his face.
[TRAINING SESSION TIMER]: 00:59:59
[Player needs to finish a one-hour training session to gain the benefit of the Training Rooms]
[Any disruption will count as failure. The Training Rooms cannot be used again in the same day]
"One hour?! You bastard!"
Joe's veins bulged on his neck as he tried to hold on for dear life. He had never exercised seriously before so this was no different than torture to him.
Joe barely made it over five minutes as he put his foot on the ground and let go of the metal bar. His arms were in pain and rigid like the metal bar itself.
Joe shook them around, hoping the feeling would go away eventually.
"At least the timer is still going."
As Joe finished his sentence, a second clock appeared.
[REST TIMER]: 00:00:30
[If the player does not continue training after the count down, the session will count as failure]
A thirty-second countdown started.
"I hate you!" Joe let out a low grunt. He rest as much as he could but when the countdown reached below three seconds, he obediently grabbed the metal bar again.
Joe still didn't try to pull himself up. He just hung there.
This time, he was able to hang on for around five minutes before letting go. His arms lost most of their sensation.
The rest timer showed up again.
"I hate this…"
After the count down, Joe tried again. He thought he was getting used to it because the second try didn't feel that bad.
He was wrong. The third time, his arms felt like they were burning from the inside. Joe continued to hold on for dear life.
He could only hang for three minutes this time.
[REST TIMER]: 00:00:15
"Fifteen seconds?! You thief!"
Joe was foaming at the mouth with saliva but he continued trying. The fourth time, his arms felt like they were tearing from the inside. He tried to reach five minutes this time.
[REST TIMER]: 00:00:30
The grueling hour kept repeating in a similar manner. Joe tried to hold on for as long as he could. Then used all the time available to rest and tried again.
He was angry at first but slowly lost all thought and repeated the process mechanically. He could even extend his holding time to six minutes which caused the Rest Timet to add an additional five seconds.
Every second was a blessing so Joe was really grateful for any extra rest time.
When the clock reached zero, Joe fell on the cold floor of the apartment and laid there motionless. His arms were rigid and felt like burning hot coal. Sweats filled his head like he was just taking a shower.
Joe didn't say anything and just laid there for a while, composing himself and letting his body recover.
After a few minutes, Joe dragged his body to a shower. He felt too hot and needed to feel fresh again.
The bathroom of this apartment was smaller and looked like it was built a few decades ago. Paint peeled off the wall, the door made noise every time it moved. But it was still better than his old cramped apartment.
When Joe was showering, a new notification pinged his phone.
[TRAINING SESSION COMPLETED]
[STAMINA +1]
[TOTAL STAMINA]: 8
[TRAINING COOL DOWN]: 23:59:59
After the shower, Joe laid down on the bed and looked at his phone. He saw the notifications and swiped them away.
"Does it really work? I don't feel any different…" Joe mumbled.
He was a bit skeptical with the Training Rooms but he knew that it was his laziness speaking. He was transported to a different world. The Money Exchange worked. The Training Rooms must also obviously work.
The attribute increase was just too little for him to notice for now.
"Maybe I can feel the difference tomorrow when I train again."
Joe opened the Honey Game again.
He had checked the Player Tab. There was only one thing left to view.
Joe clicked on the Honey Tab.