Chapter 20: Sleeping in a park

Exhausted, Eldrian collapsed onto the ground. He had completely forgotten about his first attempt at exercise after he started to run. To make it even worse, he had started out expecting himself to keep it together like he had in-game.

'Dang it, why isn't there a clear difference until I start doing stuff.' Eldrian complained to himself as he turned over onto his back.

'If this had been in-game then I would at most have been breathless and resting, not this.' Eldrian complained as he felt himself losing even more of his strength.

Luckily Eldrian had learned from last time and thus he had first gone to a nearby park before trying to exercise. Still, he had only managed to keep it up for around 10 minutes before collapsing.

The people at the park stared at him in wonderment. It wasn't often they saw someone push themselves until they couldn't even move anymore. To Eldrian's credit, he had spaced out for most of the time, thinking about the game and placing himself into his in-game mentally.

He had only realized the mistake he had made when he started feeling wobbly.

As Eldrian tried to stand up again, he instead fell asleep.

...

"Are you alright?" Eldrian heard a stranger's voice ask as he regained consciousness. Looking around he saw a young man sitting against a tree, reading, near him.

"Ah, yeah, thanks," Eldrian replied feeling really embarrassed.

'Truly what kind of idiot exercises so much that he ends up falling asleep in a park alone?' Eldrian question himself as he placed his hands onto his pockets to feel if his keys and phone was still there. He thanked his lucky stars that they were still in his pockets.

"I have to say it was quite a sight to see you just collapse and fall asleep. I was just over there reading peacefully when I heard some people mumbling about you." The stranger pointed to a bench near a pond before continuing.

"When I looked up, I saw you take a nosedive. No one expected you to not stop your fall, luckily your head was turned sideways so your nose is fine." The guy said as he looked at Eldrian, who had started reaching for his own nose.

"Ah really, I don't even remember that. Just me being on the ground and turning around to give the sun a last glance." Eldrian said as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He didn't feel so bad now, just a little light-headed. He wasn't sure if it was due to the fall or the exercise.

"So, do you want to enlighten me on how you pushed yourself so far past your limit without realizing it?" The stranger asked.

"I don't really know that myself... See I have been playing the game A New World recently, and in this game, it feels just like real life. I guess I was confused and started thinking that both my real body and in-game body can handle the same exercise. I wasn't even actively in my own head while I was running." Eldrian replied, also trying to make sense of what had happened.

He often pushed himself to the same limit in the game. But in the game, he would just collapse for a few minutes and then be fine after resting for a bit. This seems to have gotten to him.

'I really need to learn my limits. It might also help if I apply this in-game, instead of going until my in-game body literally collapses.' Eldrian thought to himself as he looked around, hoping to find that no one here was in his class.

He also realized why the Miracle Corporation said that players should try to be active IRL. It was really easy to mess up your perspective on reality, or so Eldrian felt.

"Oh, so you're playing that new game? Sure, is a game-changer for games, no pun intended." The stranger said as he also looked around and chuckled at his lame joke.

Most people had long lost interest in the tired guy who had fallen asleep.

"Is it really that great? I decided against buying it during the first release. Since you know, it is really expensive, and I don't game a lot anymore." The stranger asked after he had finished looking around.

"Yeah I am playing it and it is truly great. Like even if you don't want to play it as a game, you can just enter the game and study. With the recent update connecting it to their forums, I expect them to also add more room for other stuff, later on, maybe even connecting it to the entire internet. So then you might be able to use the time you gain on any of your interests if you didn't want to play the game in that time."

"The best part is still the fact that you can replace the need to sleep by logging into the game," Eldrian added, almost trying to sell the game. Not because he wanted to but this was just his real feelings about this benefit.

Hearing this the stranger whistled before teasing Eldrian, "Really, but look at you. You just fell asleep here for like 2 hours."

"Haha, that wasn't due to lack of sleep, but me confusing the diffe... Wait, you said I slept for 2 hours?" Eldrian suddenly asked as his brain realized what was said. He thought he had only fallen asleep for a few minutes, at the most 15 minutes. Yet it seemed it had been far longer.

"Yup. After you fell asleep a few people tried to wake you, but you were out cold. So, I decided to move closer to you and protect you." As the stranger said this, he lifted one of his eyebrows as if to indicate something. Eldrian naturally did see this action, but he was still so shocked he didn't really gather its meaning.

"Thank you again. That was very kind of you." Eldrian said remembering his manners.

"Haha, no problem. By the way, what is your name?"

"Ah, yes. I am Eldrian, and what can I call you, my white knight." Eldrian asked teasingly, connecting the eyebrow lift in a funny way.

"Nooo! Don't call me that, my name is Erik, and that is what you will call me." Erik said, cringing from the idea of another dude calling him a white knight.

"Haha, I am just joking. Or am I?" Eldrian teased as a genuine smile grew on his face. Since he had moved to the Hyooketsu University he hadn't made any friends yet. This was because he was the only one from his old friend group who moved here. he had thus been friendless these past 3 weeks.

He did try to make some other friends, but most people in his class didn't feel a connection to him. Or he didn't feel one to them, in any case, he didn't blame anyone. Since not everyone can enjoy anyone's company.

"So, what do you do Eldrian?" Erik asked

"Me, I am just an IT student. So far, the classes have been fine. But then again, we haven't started with the real shit yet." Eldrian joked, this caused Erik to laugh for a bit.

"So true! Mine has been the same. Very chill classes." Erik said after he had stopped laughing.

"And what do you do?" Eldrian asked.

"Simple, I am a literary student. My dream is to become the best writer of my time!" Erik declared proudly.

'Such high ambition. Here I am just wanting to work at a gaming company. I never even thought of working for the big ones like Miracle Corporation.' Eldrian scolded himself for being unambitious, but then he remembered he wanted to enjoy his time, more than he wanted to achieve something big. Thus he soon got over his own scolding.

The two thereafter sat quietly for a while. Enjoying the view of fauna in the park, as well as the occasional girl doing exercise. Occasionally they talked a bit about games or their studies while letting their eyes wander.

…

"So what book are you reading Erik?" Eldrian asked when he got bored of the sights and ran out of other topics. He wanted to ask this late since typically it is the first thing people ask readers.

"Ah this one, it is called Deep Down Dark, or triple D." Erik winked at Eldrian as he said this before continuing, "It is about a basic story set in a fantasy world, focused on dungeon exploration. Not the best book, but interesting." Erik replied, flipping over the book to show the cover to Eldrian.

The cover was a dimly lit hallway, with skeletons and weapons scattered across the floor.

"Certainly, sounds interesting. What is your favorite part about it so far?" Eldrian asked.

"The number of people who end up dying in the dungeon. Or just escaping without loot. It is a very different idea from the normal."

"Most of the explorers entered the dungeon unprepared and received their punishment due to their idiocy. Like a said, not the best read, but it is quite fun." Erik replied as he closed the book, keeping his finger inside where he was at.

'Time certainly flies when talking with someone.' Eldrian thought to himself as he saw that it was already 3 in the afternoon. He then said, "Erik let's exchange numbers, I feel we can be good friends."

"Sure, I also think so," Erik said as he took out his phone.

"Okay, I am going to head back. I can go into the game again and I certainly want to finish my quest in time." Eldrian said, stretching his back as he did.

"Also, if you can afford it, I suggest you try and buy yourself a headset when the next batch is sold. It certainly is worth the money. You might even make some money from it if you're lucky." Eldrian said as he walked away.

"I will consider it," Erik replied before he went back into his book.

...

Back home Eldrian prepared himself some food since he was hungry as he hadn't had lunch.

When thinking of the event of the day, Eldrian felt it was actually a very good day. Sure he did pass out in the park, but in return, he made a friend. He felt this was a very big win.

Eldrian ate his food as he went through the forums, both for entertainment and information. The first post almost made him spit out his food.

It was his post.

He was now the top post. He even made 60 dollars from tips, from when he posted it until he came back later the same day. The 60 dollars was from a few thousand tippers.

'Holy cow. It seems like I can totally make money from this. Then again players should start approaching NPCs with a more life-like manner so I might lose my edge soon.' Eldrian thought as he calmed down.

There were a few comments from people stating that they felt there were some other conditions too. This was because not every attack gave rise to a proficiency increase. They theorized that this might be due to it cutting in a way they didn't intend or something similar.

Eldrian also had this suspicion, but he felt it had to do with many different factors.

After Eldrian considered this he looked at the few sub-threads which have been linked to his. With people showing that it worked and showing off their weapon proficiencies.

Looking over these Eldrian was disappointed to see that most of the posts only tried one weapon. No one tried to be like him. Ready for anything.

Still, the player-base has started a shift in the right direction.

'Now I just need to stay on course. Luckily, I am not trying to outrace the others. I just want to learn about this world and try to become a good player in my own right. My path might be different from most others due to this.' Eldrian contemplated as he went to log in again.