Chapter 13 - Downtime

The next major update came when 50,000 players teleported to any given city once they reached level 10. Which gave Alex roughly 2 days max to make sure he was ready.

This major update came with the addition of the unlocking of regional dungeons and the start of the main storyline which ultimately lead to the first-ever realm war. This war would cause every single guild to participate as well as every mercenary to sign up. The rewards and money to be made were astronomical. Especially for the beginning period of the game for most players. Not to mention the possibility of levelling up quickly from slaying players without backlash.

Which meant free and easy XP for those that were strong.

It was a time to get hyped for sure and Alex knew this. Which is why he wanted to take advantage of it to grow stronger once again.

As a bonus to this update though, a new harmonisation system came out to the public. Of course, it was already a thing to those in status but wasn't widespread yet and ultimately wasn't something Alex could get his hands on prior to the release date.

This system would be the harmony of the real-world body and virtual body. A better synchronisation would allow for faster response time in-game and heightened senses. Not to mention it also had hidden effects of strengthening your real-world body from prolonged playing in-game. Of course, this wasn't something that was actively advertised because it was simply unknown to even the creators.

This mainly came about from players that used synchronisation to push their players to the limit in-game causing their real-world bodies to become heavily stressed mentally. Of course, after your body adapted to this it started to develop alongside your player in-game.

The downside was if your body was in poor shape the harmony would be negatively received. Your character would feel sluggish and almost restricted in a way. Of course, it wasn't game-breaking to the point you wouldn't be able to play. In fact, casual players wouldn't even notice a difference.

However, to pros, it was the worst.

That's why with the money from the selling of the starter packs. Alex decided to cash out and buy the necessary tools to strengthen his body and buy the new and improved capsule.

As for the remaining money he would convert some of it in-game for the next phase of his plan.

This plan he was referring to was preparations for the main storyline.

"If I'm going to profit from it anyway. I may as well milk it for all it's worth." That was Alex's mindset as he giggled mysteriously at himself before hopping out of his chair and walking downstairs.

He had about 4 hours until the servers went back live and he had done everything he could do that would affect in-game once they came back on. All he could do now was wait.

He decided to spend the next four hours browsing through the forums and relaxing with his mother. It was early morning currently and his father was already at work since he woke up at dawn.

After a while, though Alex's phone went off. Looking down at his phone Alex was curious too who was actually ringing him. Although Alex was sociable at university and had many friends. He simply didn't spend a lot of time with anyone outside of class'.

"Yo, Alex. How've you been lately." Connor his desk mate said almost as soon as the call connected. Even though Alex hadn't even managed to put his phone to his ear yet.

"Hahaha, not bad, you?"

"Not bad huh. I bet your hooked on TWOD haha!"

"Me and you both."

Spending some time talking to each other Alex grew more comfortable. In his past life he and Connor both went their separate ways since they were in their final years of university.

When Alex's parents passed he had shut himself off from the world for a very long time. Using the game to vent his frustrations with the world and too also scrape by. It was only when he met Damien did he manage to open himself up again and also realise his dream of reaching the top in The World Of Divinity.

However, just because he didn't talk to Connor in his past life didn't mean he would ignore him in this life. He had made a promise to himself to do things differently this time around. So maybe this was something that would change as well

"So did you hear about that Zero guy, Who do you think he plays for? A solo god like the forums are calling for or some hidden guild that's waiting in the shadows for a time until they grow strong enough?"

"Hmmm I don't know man but one thing is for sure is that he's someone from our country. Who knows he might even go to our University." Dropping small hints, Alex didn't want to reveal his identity yet since that could put his family in danger.

He knows how the corporate guilds run and how far they'd go if Alex decided to turn them down.

"Hahah true true, for all we know it could be a teacher or even the person that sells bread on the corner during lunch."

"You got that right. The scale of the game sure is crazy."

"That's the best part haha. Listen man we've got to meet up in game soon and run some quests and stuff. I've been working real hard with some random I came across and I've already reached level 8. Nearly level 9 actually, so if you need anything in game let me know."

"Sure man, just let me know your ID and I'll add you when servers go live."

"It's KingSlayer, I'm a tank. The best out there haha. Anyways I've got food so I'll see you later. Peace bro."

"Later."

KingSlayer huh, so that was Connor. The world really is small. It was a name that he was all to familiar with. In his past life KingSlayer was a well known Tank that joined Blue Moon Guild and ended up making a name for himself during the Realm war.

"If I could maybe draw him into my team for dungeon runs and the realm war. I'm sure we could make an even bigger scene."

After that Alex spent some time doing some daily exercise of 100 squats, 200 push ups and and 100 sit ups and a jog around the block twice before showering and returning back to his bed tired.

It was time to log back in.