4 – The Moments

Alan kept shooting at the wasp, but it was still moving fast. And finally, that monster was only inches away from the young man.

If he jumped to dodge, he would fall. So, he shot another chunk of the ground from below instead. Because the distance of the shot was so close, the wasp instantly bounced away.

And Celia had already jumped high with her spear. The monster's wings stopped moving the moment that weapon penetrated its body.

"We won!" Celia screamed, seeing the wasp's empty HP bar. "We beat it!"

"Celia, watch out!!!" Alan exclaimed.

Instead of landing, the female fighter's body crashed into a wall. But fortunately, she managed to hold on to the edge. "Not again!"

Alan almost laughed at Celia's expression. She puffed out her cheeks like a child who didn't get what she wanted.

"Wait a minute." Alan came to the woman. "But before this, you can get up and jump to attack that big wasp, though."

"That time, I realized there was a piece of rubble only 3 feet from my feet." Celia sighed. "So, I landed there when I fell and tried to catch up with you."

"And after that, you can kill that monster." Alan chuckled as he pulled that woman up. "That was amazing, Celia."

"Well, I have to learn to land well. I don't want to embarrass myself when this game is officially released." She shrugged, then flashed a big smile. "So, does that mean we're a team? Where should we go now? I'll follow you. It seems you're better at games like this."

Alan smiled back. He enjoyed playing with Celia, but this had to end. "Sorry, but tomorrow I have a job interview in the morning. I have to sleep now."

Being in a deep dive state while using a VR device cannot be equated with sleeping. Your brain is still working because it gets various stimuli from that device. Your body is not moving, but your brain will still be tired.

"It's already 10 pm, huh?" Celia checked the clock on her UI. "I don't feel like it's been this long. Even though I'm not an expert at jumping, I enjoy it... Ah, let me add you as a friend."

While Celia opened the friend list section, Alan's smile disappeared. Even if he gets the job, it will still take a long time before he can buy another VR device. Celia would definitely forget about him and this moment.

It's a shame, indeed. Her bright personality captivates Alan. The young man had even imagined making a floating island base with Celia. He had forgotten that soon he would have to part with her.

"Thanks." Alan accepted her friend request, even though it was pointless.

The female fighter shouted with full spirit. "See you tomorrow! I can't wait to play with you again!"

"Bye, Celia." Smiling again, Alan opened the main menu and suddenly gasped hard.

"What's wrong?" Celia frowned. "Has your game UI gotten that scary?"

"Celia…." Alan's lips started to tremble. His heartbeat went wild. "Check your main menu…. Logout button on the bottom left."

"Okay..." Even though she was confused by Alan's behavior, Celia still opened her game UI. Slowly, her eyes widened. "What the…. What does this mean?"

Their logout button has been grayed out.

Alan tried to press the button, but nothing happened. He's still in the game. The second time he tried, the result was the same.

"No...." Celia kept pressing the button like crazy. "I can't be in this game forever! I still have a lot to do in the real world!"

It's useless. No matter how much and how hard they pressed the button, they still couldn't escape the fantasy world.

The two looked at each other again, and instantly they froze.

The hair of the woman before Alan was no longer straight and silver but light brown and curly. Her eyes are sharper, and her lips are thicker. The change can also be seen in her body. Her skin tone got a little lighter, while her height increased a few inches.

Only one thing proves that she is the woman who played with Alan earlier: the text [Celia_Wolfe] is still floating above her head.

"Al, is that you?" She asked in a slightly hoarse, shrill voice, something Alan was also familiar with.

It was Celia's voice.

The young man then touched his face. All of that also seemed familiar to him. Too familiar, maybe. His nose was no longer as sharp as his avatar's, and now he could feel the thin beard on his chin and above his lips.

In the real world, he hasn't shaved for several days.

"No way." Celia checked her hair. "Have I changed too?"

"It seems our avatars follow our true forms in the real world." Alan delivered the obvious conclusion. He desperately endured the burst of panic inside him. "I don't know what triggered it…. And it looks like we really are trapped in this world."

Celia was squeezing her hair, her breath started to hitch, and her eyes filled with tears. "W-what should we do?"

"Okay, calm down." Alan kept his voice as normal as possible. "Maybe this is just some kind of bug. I'm sure the developer will fix it in no time."

"Are you sure? But this problem has never happened before." Celia's green eyes fixed deep into Alan's face. "I don't want to be trapped in here."

"They must have started doing something as we speak…."

"Tomorrow, you have a job interview, right?" Celia cut off the young man's words. "You need to sleep early, and if we can't log out for long, then you'll be screwed. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

Celia's words caught Alan off guard. In this situation, she still pays attention to his circumstance? It made Alan's smile return. "Thanks, but that is my least concern."

A wall of texts suddenly filled their game UI.

[Real mode activated. Your physique will feel everything you would normally feel in your original world; pain, thirst, hunger, and so on. If you die in this world, you also lose your life in your home world]

As his heart rate crept up, Alan's throat felt dry. It's like Alan just did an activity that drained the fluids in his body.

Celia had even taken a gulp of water from her leather jug.