Trashy Poisonous Molotov

System: "Item name 'Poison Bomb' is taken, selecting item name..."

System: "'Trashy Poisonous Molotov' created."

Alden's eye twitched and looked at the notifications. 'Trashy Poisonous Molotov...? My item is trashy?'

Unable to accept this name, Alden quickly pulled up the item description.

-[Trashy Poisonous Molotov]-

Rarity: Trash

Description: The creation of Apprentice Alchemist "Faceless." If not for the quality of the ingredients, crafting this item would be impossible. The effects of the ingredients are degraded by the techniques involved. When lit on fire, it explodes and spreads out a poisonous gas.

Usage: Poisons foes in range, those within 5 meters of the initial explosion experience knockback.

-[Close]-

Alden sighed. "Seems like that's enough Realms for the day... whatever, I'll find a use for the item."

At the very least, the 100 proficiency he received should put him ahead of every other alchemist in the Sorus Empire for at least 24 hours.

Soon after sending out a few messages, Alden made a post on the Realms forums.

"SELLING SERPENT NEST CLEAR METHOD"

There, he set up the option to buy a text file for 10,000 bytes. Before they bought it, they had to agree to never leak the method to others.

'I can't stop their teammates from picking it up and telling others, but I'll get at least a few bytes from the competition between guilds...'

With that thought, Alden pulled up his menu and tapped the "Logout" button. Silently, he hoped that he wouldn't appear in the future.

'Who knows if the logout button is a time machine?' Alden thought as the screen went black.

-

Fortunately, the logout button was not a time machine.

'In hindsight, I went back in time after entering the pod, not exiting...'

The shine from Alden's room window seemed to indicate the start of a new day. The sky was pinkish-blue, and he could already hear his mother cooking breakfast.

After walking downstairs, Alden greeted his parents.

"Good morning..." he drawled.

His father, reading the news on his phone, only nodded. Alden silently took note to get him a better phone soon. His mother responded in kind,

"Good morning, dear. Breakfast is about to be ready."

Alden took his seat at the table. Soon, he'd be moving out of this place, so he thought to enjoy the time he had with his family.

The trio ate breakfast and talked a bit, and after they were finished, Alden said, "I'm going out. I wanna start going to the gym."

Realms Online was special in that everyone played during their sleep. This also meant their mind rested a bit less optimally, so professionals would even take days off in order to keep healthy.

That is, until everyone realized that merely staying physically fit could counteract the issue. As long as you were young and fit, you could play Realms Online every day of the week.

'Which is why Relentless kicked me out. As an older man, I could only play for 3 nights a week. It was only a matter of time before the young people caught up...'

In Alden's opinion, that still didn't excuse their actions. Who would fire someone before they could retire? Only those with an evil heart.

Alden's parents seemed a bit shocked at his proclamation.

His mother said, "Oh? Our gamer son who stays inside all day is finally maturing!"

"I hope so, honey. Who knows if he'll quit after a few days... are you serious, Alden?" Alden's father asked.

"Absolutely."

"Alright then, you can borrow some money and get a membership at a good gym. I'll save up to get a SynthX pill for you if you're consistent."

Alden's eyebrow raised, and he shook his head. "SynthX is too expensive, Dad. And so is a membership! I'll just pass the combat test at the OptiQli Academy."

SynthX was a pill that came into existence some 20 years before Alden was born. Upon swallowing it, millions of tiny nanobots would make their way into the bloodstream. After that, they would seek out muscle tissue and analyze each muscle, catering to their needs to increase protein synthesis, repair rate, and more.

And although it wasn't hard to get your hands on, it cost a fortune. Alden's father would have to rid himself of his entire savings!

Alden's mother dropped a dish into the sink, picked it up, and continued cleaning it. Clearly, she was speechless.

His father, on the other hand, lectured Alden, "That combat test isn't a joke! You haven't received a lick of training. I might pass it, but you? Just accept this favor, don't humiliate yourself!"

It was true, anyone could look at Alden's body and realize that he'd never touched a dumbbell in his life, much less been in a fight. But Alden could only argue with his father this time.

"Realms Online is extremely realistic. In one day there, I've gotten more combat experience than most martial artists. If I fail, so be it, but I don't believe I can't succeed. I'll text the good news, Dad."

Of course, one day in Realms Online wasn't actually enough to out-perform a powerful martial artist. But, 11 years from now? If a martial artist didn't play Realms, they would lose any competitions they attended. Your average melee expert could actually defeat a non-player soldier in hand-to-hand combat with ease!

Even in this body, Alden was confident that no one in the entire city could challenge him.

'That is unless they became an apex expert in my previous life. The mere talent those people have is enough to defeat the current me... they may even grasp my techniques during the fight if I don't defeat them within 5 exchanges!'

The boundary separating the paragon and apex tiers was disastrously large. There were only 99 such experts in his past life, and they were why he wasn't confident in being the best Realms Online player at this point in time.

With that in mind, Alden quickly exited his home, leaving his parents gobsmacked.

'Does that child truly think gaming has turned him into a martial master...?'

They did understand that the thrill of killing big monsters in a game might make him cocky... but this was beyond measure!

-

Alden used the bus and arrived at OptiQli Academy. It was called an academy, but more so, it was a gym. The people nurtured at OptiQli won many international competitions, and in the future, almost every player in his Knowell City wanted to join.

'It could be said that Realms Online will bring about an era of fitness.'

As he was about to enter the institution, Alden was interrupted by a voice.

"Is that my cousin?!"

Alden turned around, the voice sounding rather familiar. 'Ah, it's Stanford...'

Put simply, Stanford was a cousin who consistently outperformed him. Even in his last life, Stanford was a middle manager in one of the top 100 guilds of Realms Online. That position was much more prestigious than his own.

Still, that never impressed Alden.

"Hey, Stanford! I was just here to become a member of OptiQli, thinkin' about getting myself in shape!"

A ridiculing smile grew on Stanford's oily, acne-ridden face. The curly-haired cousin chuckled as he said, "You really think you can get in? Even I only got in after passing their combat test. It took years of martial arts practice. Our family simply can't afford OptiQli!"

But, when Stanford opened his eyes to see Alden's despairing face, he only found that Alden already entered the academy!

At the front desk, one would find a good-looking receptionist. She was tall and had a short, black bob cut.

"I am here to take the combat test," Alden said.

The receptionist took a look at Alden's skinny arms and sunken eyes and smiled wryly. Still, this was her job. "Of course, sir. You are only required to spar with one of our trainees. Should you win, we'll give you a free, lifetime membership at OptiQli!"

Alden nodded. He has passed this test in the past.

Quickly, the receptionist escorted Alden to the fighting ring. It was a simple boxing ring, and the rules were simple. The first to be knocked out loses, with no low blows or dirty tactics.

Soon, a young man came into the ring with Alden, and from the corner of Alden's eye, he saw his cousin, Stanford.

Alden looked at the clock, and said, "Looks like I get a little time to show off today!"

The young man's eyes flared up. "Are you mocking me? My academy?!"

"No, I just think I should be fighting an instructor instead!"

The referee sighed, 'I hope this skinny kid knows what he's doing.'

"Start!"

The young academy trainee got into his stance, and rushed Alden! Only, that was all he could do.

At the very same moment the trainee took off, Alden already thoroughly understood what he wanted to do.

'A kick toward my liver? How stupid.'

After all, the second he got within Alden's range, he ended up on the floor!

Outside of the ring, Stanford was heard, "What?!"

'Well, even an instructor wouldn't have been my match...' Alden thought.