Bob

It was already eleven AM when Ryu woke up. He casually got up, like it was every other morning of the month like he hadn't reversed the time hours ago. He headed to the bathroom, where he washed up and brushed his teeth.

Today, Ryu was going to do some betting. Although he didn't remember every match, he still remembered many, and that was enough to make some small cash. If he is going to be betting, he obviously requires some money. But all he had on him right now were merely Nine dollars and some exchange, so first of all, he needs to have a considerable amount of money to bet.

'Thankfully, I still have that piggy bank. If I remember correctly, there should be about fifteen thousand dollars. I can get them, but I am already breaking it for the second time. Sigh...' The piggy bank was his life-long treasure. It followed him from the way back since he was seven, so he was quite sad about breaking it again. It even had a name of its own. It was Bob.

' Sorry Bob, your sacrifice will never be forgotten, and I promise to build you up in the future.' In the end, Ryu decided to go and destroy Bob. Don't get him wrong though, He still loved Bob, but he desperately needed money more right now.

Ryu climbed down the stairs and went straight to the kitchen, where Bob resided. When he got there though, he saw that the meal he had left for his mother had disappeared and in its place was only a dirty plate left. He wasn't surprised by this. Angelica always left before he could even wake up. She worked as a waitress in an old restaurant.

He was disappointed that he didn't manage to talk and catch up with her. He really missed her for all of those years in the galaxy. Angelica passed away when she was giving birth to the twins, which was the second year of the game in 2055. Ryu believed he could make her mother stop working and let her start playing Rebirth. There, he could find some treasures that could help her with childbirth. If that didn't go as planned, he could still teach her breathing techniques as a backup.

Breathing techniques were the most important part of the Rebirth. By using breathing techniques you could strengthen your body and mind over time, and slowly ascend the hierarchy of life.

So her survival wasn't a problem anymore.

Ryu looked around, searching for Bob. Bob was quietly sitting at the top of the refrigerator, having a good time just existing. But he didn't know that his days of peaceful life were coming to an end. Ryu mercilessly lifted Bob and placed it on the desk. He was determined to break it and move on. It was just a loss of a piggy bank nothing more right?

Before he broke it though, he gave it one last look. It was a figure from the previously famous game which everyone enjoyed in the past. It was minedraft. And figurine was that of a pigman. He liked the game himself, so he bought the piggy bank as a souvenir.

" Sigh... let's get it over with already." And then, he struck the unsuspecting Pigman, Bob.

Nothing could save Bob now.

Bam!

Crack!

The piggy bank finally cracked open and let the green dollar papers flow everywhere. He quickly collected and counted them and counted 13,900 dollars, not quite 15,000 but still enough to make some bets. He decided to bet on the matches with higher rates so he could make more money.

He Quickly packed up the money, changed into something more formal, and went straight to the bank where he was going to move this money to the credit card.

Finally, after many procedures, he had the money on his credit card. Ryu didn't dwell too much and went straight to the first totalizator he saw.

The place was spacious, even with a bar attached to it. There were people everywhere gambling and betting on all kinds of stuff. Ryu showed his ID card and entered without a problem. He was already 19 years old, so he was eligible to go to those kinds of places.

At last, he confirmed his bets. He made three bets, two of them each five thousand dollars, and the last one was for three thousand and nine hundred dollars. The first one was with odds of 2,95 whilst the second was with 3,15 and the last one was also close to the 3.

Ryu didn't dare to trust himself too much and bet everything on the highest one, lest he wanted to lose everything, hence his choice.

For the time being, He left the Totalizator. The matches that he had bet on were all going to be held in a few days. So, in the meantime, he decided to play Blood wars to remember the feeling of the vrmmo capsule.

As he was strolling through the streets, He was thinking about what he would do, when he finally entered the Rebirth. ' First of all, I need a high-class Breathing technique. There are many that I remember, but I can't have them all.' Ryu was in a dilemma, He knew of many good breathing techniques and how to get them, but obviously, he couldn't learn them all, so he had to choose one.

Breathing techniques were separated by the grades: Common, Rare, Legendary, Mythical, and Unique. Obviously, Common was the lowest grade, widely used by many. Next up was Rare. People who used this kind of technique usually were from the military, Guilds, or factions. Legendary breathing techniques were all for big shots, so common people could rarely even see it. Also, Legendary grade had three grades of its own- Low, Mid, and High. Mythical grade techniques were... well, myths. Not many people know if these techniques really exist or not but sure as hell there are many legends about them.

As for the Unique grade breathing techniques, they were all special. They could be of all kinds of grades, from the common to the mythical. But what made them Unique was that they could have uncomprehensive additional effects. For example, the Love Life Breathing technique is a Rare grade technique that is also a Unique grade one, at the same time. Aside from the usual effect of the breathing techniques, it could give you an additional effect- after the session of the energy circulation, the technique would make you seem more attractive for the opposite sex than you were before. Another example was The Shadow Incarnate breathing technique, which was a mid-Legendary grade technique. It could automatically give you a perfect affinity towards the shadow element after just practicing it one time. You should know that gaining the affinity towards the element wasn't an easy task, so the fact that just practicing it one time could give a perfect affinity was something unheard of.

Ryu remembered many Rare and legendary breathing techniques, even a mystical one, but he wasn't interested in any of them. Instead, He had his eyes on one of the three Mystical-Unique grade techniques that players managed to find. It was found in the seemingly powerful practitioner's Ruins. But as it was found, the player who had the book in his hands, suddenly died. The book somehow found itself outside the ruins, despite there being hundreds of players trying to take it. Then a randomly flying eagle caught it and flew away, but as it was flying stray lighting struck it down in the river. After that nobody saw that technique ever again.

'Probably, the technique is cursed or something like that. Anyway, I should at least try before giving up.' As he was strolling through the streets, he finally reached his house.

Because he wasn't planning on going to work, he decided to go and play Blood wars. The game was not as realistic as the Rebirth, but it still had its own charms. Blood wars was a genuine game not a real-world like a Rebirth, so it had many things that weren't even qualified to compete with it, but it was still fairly fun.

'After I am done with Blood wars, I should really start working out to get myself into the shape.' As he thought that, he looked down at his belly and frowned. He clearly didn't like what he saw. Thankfully he still had two months before the game release to get him at his peak.

In the Rebirth, your body is fully analyzed so everything could be recreated on the game, even your appearance. Also, all of your stats and information will be recorded in your system interference. So it does matter if you were in a good shape in the real world or not.

Ryu entered the capsule And loaded the game. For the next couple of hours, he would be bullying Blood wars' players.