Ashes of the Fallen

Oh well, one step after the other.

I'll get stronger first, then focus on building my kingdom.

Well, maybe I'll work on my kingdom a little too. A little change of scenery, a short break here and there, was good for the soul after all. Maybe I could take a day off and check out some livestock… I did want some goats and cows for my farm.

I had seen enough goblins to last me for a while anyways.

Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

Chapter 48: Population in Flux

(Tuesday, June 1st Game Day / Saturday, February 20th Real Day)

Ah I'm thirsty, I thought to myself as I stretched my arms out. It was still dark out but I kept my eyes shut, since I didn't want to risk fully waking up. Rolling over and letting an arm dangle over the edge, I ran my hand up and down the base of the bed in search of a glass that wasn't there.

"Strange, where is it," I mumbled for no one to hear.

I always left a bottle or glass of water by my bed, so as to have an easily accessible drink in the middle of the night… this time though, I couldn't find one.

"Eh what the hell," I said with a sigh, cracking an eye open to look.

The room was dark but my eyes had already adjusted and it didn't take long for me to realize my mistake. The bed was uncomfortable, which should have been the first sign. The floor was made of wood, which was the second sign. Third, the sheet was made of wool and wasn't the goose down I was so in love with.

Three major strikes.

This wasn't my bed, nor was this the real world.

Rolling onto my back, I opened my eyes and noticed a little emergency exclamation point flashing in the bottom right-hand corner of my visual field. The system was informing me of what I already knew, what I could feel thanks to the game's extreme realism. Dehydration was setting in, and I needed some water… and food.

Somehow, I had forgotten that I had fallen asleep in-game instead of logging out.

It wasn't something that happened often, but it was occurring more frequently recently. I was guilty of spending my nights in-game when I was within the presence of Selene and Katherine, as it was often more… comforting than sleeping in an empty room. They weren't here this time, but it had become a habit already. A strange concept really, that a grown man would enjoy sleeping in the same room with two attractive women, despite not even occupying the same bed, over the privacy and comfort of his own bed.

Yeah, it didn't really make sense to me, but I enjoyed it.

Maybe it did make sense though, who was I to question the results.

Entering the logout sequence, I closed my eyes as everything went black. A few seconds passed as the sounds of the game vanished and the faint whir of fans could be heard instead. My eyes still shut, a faint light could be seen through my eyelids as the room had started to adjust the interior's illumination level with the outside world.

Taking a peek, I let my eyes adjust with the room's lighting as I started to pull off the various attachments that were connected to my body. The process didn't take more than a minute after the hundredth time and I was probably reaching near five-hundred log-in and log-out sequences by now, which basically meant I was a master at it.

Lying back on the chair while contemplating what my life had become, I couldn't help but realize how comfortable the chair was.

It was really comfortable.

I wouldn't doubt it if some people actually preferred it to their beds.

That was what it was designed for after all.

The chair that came with The Cube was meant for people to spend countless hours in it, so comfort and safety were the primary concerns during development. There was even a system set up specifically so players could fall asleep in-game and The Cube would go into its own sleep-mode while you slept. Once you started to wake up, The Cube would detect your movements and changes in brain-wave patterns and automatically start back up, allowing one to wake up in-game as if it were reality.

That's what had happened to me.

It was a neat trick really, especially for immersion purposes.

If you could somehow take care of your bodily functions in-game, well… then there wouldn't be much reason to ever log out, at least not for me. Unfortunately, there were specific things I still needed to take care of. First of which, would be the restroom… then, water, and lastly some food.

I had skipped dinner like a fool and it was already lunch time now.

"So much for my restrictions on gaming," I muttered.

I had clearly become addicted to the game and my health was suffering for it.

By the time I made it to a local Mexican restaurant, the place was fairly empty since it was mid-day and lunch had long been over. It was better for me in the end, since I didn't have to deal with the crowds and long lines. Two beef tacos and a burrito were all I needed, cheap and fulfilling… maybe not the healthiest, seeing as the tacos were fried, but I digress.

Healthy enough for me!