Real life

Cyrus felt fatigued from his emotional outburst, and drowsiness soon gently sent him off to a sleepy state.

The next day, although his body felt heavy, Cyrus sluggishly stood up and walked around the room to clear his foggy brain.

A good night of sleep allowed him to have a more reasonable outlook, and he didn't feel like his emotions controlled him completely now.

Nonetheless, he felt a bit empty, and the apartment was quite lonely.

However, this was the least bit of his worries, as an unpleasant smell wafted to his nose, and brought him back to reality.

"Fuck! I should shower!"

Due to yesterday's emotional state, he didn't have the motivation to change his clothes, and so he slept in the very same attire he spent the entire day in, and his body odor was now quite unpleasant.

Cyrus made his way towards the bathroom cabin and closed it off after undressing himself.

He was no athlete, but his slight muscular definition showed that he took the time to take care of his fitness.

When he played his wrist on the walls of the cabin, his smartwatch synced with it, and a variety of options and features appeared.

"Steam mode."

He didn't usually go to the length of a full sauna, but he had the motivation to clean himself that thoroughly today as if evaporating his leftover melancholy away.

The nozzles of the shower soon emitted pleasant-smelling steam, which enveloped his entire body and relaxed his muscles.

A repetitive melody began playing inside of the cabin.

It was a fusion of orchestral, jazz, and repetitive pop music.

Cyrus closed his eyes and took deep breaths.

After a dozen minutes of mindlessly 'steaming' his entire body, he activated the shower mode and performed the usual shower routines.

As liquid soap spilled from his body with the water, a notification popped up from his smartwatch.

It was a message, and the sender was 'Mihael - University Senior'.

(Mihael: Hey Cyrus, I hope you're spending your holidays well.)

(Mihael: Would you like to get some tea with Maja and me?)

Mihael was a kind senior from his university, and a relatively close friend to him, so seeing a message brought a slight smile to his face.

(Cyrus: That would be great.)

(Cyrus: Where? When?)

He soon received location data about a new café in the historic district from his senior and the scheduled time.

(Mihael: Great, I'll see you there.)

Cyrus also concluded his long shower and came out looking extremely clean.

He dressed in casual attire and went back to his living room to find a way to spend the time before he'd have to leave.

As his pupils slid off towards the game helmet on his side, he immediately refused internally.

He wasn't feeling ready to enter the game yet.

Then, a great idea came to him.

He opened up the image his uncle sent him yesterday and printed it to hang on the walls of his room.

This photograph of joy would now forever remind him of the best moments of his childhood.

As he did that, he also saw another message from his uncle.

(Uncle: Cyrus! You're actually awake...I have a surprise for you, though you'll have to wait.)

'A surprise? Is he coming to Valgrade?' That was the only potential surprise he could think of.

"Let's not think too hard about it, I might ruin the surprise aspect..." Cyrus chuckled and looked at the time on his smartwatch.

(15:57, 8th of August, 2042)

It was soon time, so he immediately opened up Huber and booked an autonomous taxi ride.

Then, he left the apartment and walked towards the opposite end of the hallway.

The elevator soon reached his floor, and he entered and pressed on the button for the first floor.

Catchy elevator music played in the background, while he looked at the urban landscape of Valgrade.

Steel and glass residential skyscrapers were everywhere, and they all looked so similar they made the skyline of the city into a sterile sight, like a factory of architecture.

Cyrus clicked his tongue and swiftly left for the garage of the apartment complex.

A black car with rounded curves and no driver at the front was parked there, waiting for his arrival.

The door opened for him, and he sat on the comfortable back seats.

A touchscreen appeared on the leather finish of the seats and requested for him to input the destination.

Cyrus obliged, and the silent electric and autonomous vehicle drove out of the garage, and into the city streets.

It was quite quick, and the historic district, where the city streets actually looked like city streets, was now in their sight.

Cyrus paid 20 Federal Rubles(2 USD) and left the vehicle.

He stopped quite a distance away from the café, because he didn't often have a chance to walk in this beautiful boulevard, so he was going to traverse the rest on foot.

He now walked alongside intricate statues, old government buildings, and gigantic cathedrals.

This was nothing like the residential neighborhoods, and there were actually people strolling by outdoors.

Cyrus soon found a mid-rise building that had a tall dome in the center, and that was the café.

When he climbed up the stairs, he heard someone call out to him, "Cyrus!"

He turned his eyes towards the owner of the voice, and a man and woman waved at him.

The two looked similar, both being quite tall, and having striking blond hair.

It was normal, since the two were twins.

"Mihael! Maja!" Cyrus approached the two and shook their hands.

"Did I take too long?" Cyrus smiled bashfully.

"No, we just came too early..." Maja looked at her brother, who had a guilty expression on his face.

Then, they entered and tried to find a seat.

The theme of the café was similar to a Renaissance art building.

The dome had a hole, and depending on the time of day, the sunlight shining through the hole would light up one of the various copies of fine art hung up on the walls.

They chose a random seat, and a waiter came up to them.

Nowadays, restaurants and cafés preferred remote ordering through a touchscreen, but some establishments still employed waiters for an old-school, nostalgic feeling.

"Good afternoon, what may I get you?" The waiter presented them with the menu.

Cyrus went over each of the items in the menu, and quickly decided, "I'll get some Nihonese Matcha, please."

The two also looked at the menu, and eventually chose the same drink, "I'll have Aithiopian Coffee, please."

The waiter nodded and went towards the preparation and cooking aisle.

"So, how did you spend your holidays?" Maja began a conversation.

"Mostly at home, I haven't done much."

"Lucky..." Mihael glared at him.

"Being a senior at the university is practically a full-time job," Maja explained their frustration to him.

"Oh, speaking of, what do you think of the food printer?"

The two of them were both part of the team that designed and worked on the prototype for the food printer.

"From a taste perspective, I think it would benefit from a more diverse array of factors that influence the taste of the finished product, as it always ends up the same, currently."

The two nodded and waited for him to finish.

"Truthfully, I think that the product will especially work in areas where lack of food is a recurring issue, but as it stands, it might be too expensive for these places."

"Oh? Like the Kowloon Slums?"

Cyrus nodded.

That was the place that came to his mind immediately.

Most westerners only heard rumors of the tragic situation there, but he...he had seen it with his own eyes.

"We're currently requesting funding from a few big corporations in order to streamline the product and make it as cheap as possible," Maya informed him that they were working on it.

After that, the serious talk brought on less serious talk, and Mihael enthusiastically asked him, "Have you got your hands on Paragon Online?"

"I've played a bit, yes."

"The university offered us the game helmet and cartridges as gifts today, you should definitely help us, newbies...."

"I'm quite the noob myself..." Cyrus giggled self-depreciatingly.

Though he then gave a few tips to them about the gameplay, and they received their orders and stayed in the café for a bit.

"It was great seeing you, Cyrus."

"Likewise, let's meet up more often on campus."

Cyrus gave the two a short hug, and they left for their respective homes.

It was getting quite dark, and this was the only time of the day the skyscrapers were pleasant to the eye, as they reflected back the orange glint of the sun towards them.

Cyrus went back to his apartment, and changed into pajamas.

Then, with a heavy sigh, he put on the game helmet, and logged into Paragon Online.

After discussing with his friends, he was now more eager about playing the game again.

Soon enough, he found himself on the same muddy swamp he logged out in.

His interface displayed that Chu wasn't online, so he explored the thick, swampy area on his own.

However, a pop-up brought his urge for exploration to an end.

(Hunger effect: -25% in all Stats)

'Uhhhh...did they have to make the game this realistic?' Cyrus rubbed his belly, feeling the unpleasant sounds of hunger.

Unfortunately, there was no teleportation feature in the game...yet.

So, he traced back his steps, to find his way to Cape Immergroen.

Strangely, as he was walking, and tried to cross a bush, he felt a solid obstacle in front of him.

'Hmm?' He took out his sword and tore apart the thick overgrowth.

As the grasses and vines fell to the ground, a strange stone monolith soon appeared in his view.

Cyrus examined it with his hands, and surprisingly, a floating interactive screen emerged on his retina.

(Discovered Dark Swamp Dungeon!)

(Dark Swamp Dungeon)

Recommended Level: 10

Difficulty: Fair

Modes: Guild Mode, Party Mode

'Oh well....' Cyrus didn't see this coming.