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nWaking up Eldrian saw the headset over his eyes, confused he pulled it off his head.

n'The heck, how did I get here?' He asked himself, not remembering much after having looked at the stars. Sitting up he fell onto his side, having lost his balance.

nSlowly sitting up again Eldrian felt his world spin, yet this time he expected it and countered the spin to keep his balance.

n'The hell, I feel fine. Why is the world spinning around me?' He asked himself, grabbing his phone which was one charge.

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"Yikes, luckily it is a Sunday.

" He mumbled, seeing that it was after 8 in the morning. If it had been a Monday then he would miss his first lecture, since he would still need to get ready and then cycle to the university, which all would take around half an hour. Luckily he still had plenty of time today, just needing to head to his sister's at around one.

nStanding up from his bed Eldrian still felt the earth around him spinning, but it was already far less than before. Taking a few seconds to get used to this he stumbled to his kitchen and grabbed himself some milk to drink.

nAfter finishing the milk he also poured himself some cereal, since the milk was already out and not feeling in the mood to make something. He then headed to his PC to watch some videos while eating. Already feeling more normal, the earth only tilting around him. Not straight up spinning.

nAfter finishing his breakfast he started browsing the forums as was his normal routine. Looking over the ranking forum he was a little surprised to see many people around level 3 and 4.

nThree players had taken the top ranking as having reached level 4 and making their avatar statistics available. While over a hundred filled the rest of the page, all of them having reached level 3.

nEldrian was only mildly surprised as he believed that it had to do with them having turned in their quests. He had been wondering how much levels 10 000 XP were going to be, now he had his answer.

n'I should remember to also turn in my quest.' Eldrian told himself as he looked at the ranking system. He felt certain it was going to start shifting far more often now, since most players had likely not given in their quests yet.

nHe also wondered how the ranking system found everyone since it wasn't made by the developers. Fiddling with it a bit he got the option to also be added, which required permission.

nReading the message he learned that the permission would read your current statistics and place you onto the lists if you make it into the top 100. In the end, there was a final note stating that you as the player could decide what to share.

n'Interesting, so those who want to brag can do so, while those who want to keep their info silent can also do that.'

nFinishing his browsing Eldrian turned of his PC and climbed into some more comfortable exercise clothing. Next, he grabbed himself a bottle of water and headed out for a run.

nDuring the previous week, he had found that he managed to stay on a schedule for the first time. The game has given him a reason or rather the drive he needed to keep at it.

nHis normal routine while exercising was to jog for around a block, then walk the next. He would repeat this pattern until he felt too tired to continue. At which point he would then take a rest before running back in a similar manner. The only difference being that he would sprint a block and the jog the next after having crossed the halfway point on his way back.

nIn this way he upped the intensity, pushing himself past what he felt was his limit.

nHis progress had been slow, but he had made it steadily. Starting with only doing around 5 blocks of jogging, naturally also 5 of walking. Yet by the end of the week, he had managed to do much more, nearing the 15 block distance.

nNaturally, he had missed yesterday having been too tired to do anything that morning.

nStretching a bit outside of his place he warmed himself up a bit, not knowing what to do for this. He generally just stretched his calves and hamstrings.

nFinishing the stretches he felt ready and set off, finding himself starting quicker than normal, he also realized that it strangely felt a bit easier.

nNot wanting to rock the boat he slowed himself down and kept to his normal routine, managing to do 20 blocks before feeling completely spent. While the change wasn't massive, Eldrian immediately picked up on it.

n'Why could I do more today?' He asked himself as he was lying on his back and catching his breath. After around 5 minutes he felt normal again, slowly standing up and readying himself for the return trip. Which was always harder than the going trip.

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"Let's go!

" Eldrian said, hyping himself up. Chalking the difference to having a nice day or maybe because he had rested well on Saturday.

nArriving at his home block Eldrian dove under one of the roadside trees. Resting in the shade and breathing hard he felt like he was dying. His lungs burning while his legs felt powerless. Regretting that he had kept going for those extra blocks.

nAfter resting he headed into his place, doing his homework and watching some series to pass the time until he had to head to Jen's, his sister.

nHe also sent her a message asking if she was still okay with him coming over today, which she quickly replied to that it was. Eager to taste some home-cooking again, Eldrian wished time to move a bit faster.

nFinally, 12 o'clock came around. Meaning Eldrian could start heading over, not going to be too early, climbing on his bike he started cycling to his sister's commune.

nJust before he had left, he had showered and dressed in a bit better-looking clothes. Certainly not fancy, but also not shabby.

nAs he was cycling he suddenly realized that it might be an amazing way to travel in the game. He only didn't know how it would work, since he would have to make the bicycle from scratch inside the game. He didn't even know if that would work. Still, he felt it was worth a try. Making him decide to try it when he became competent in blacksmithing.

n'Maybe guns can also be made in the game. That would certainly swing the advantage to the humans' side.' He thought, his mind suddenly having been opened to the idea of technology inside the game. He vaguely remembered that the developers had said something about some tech not working, but he had no idea what that enveloped.

nTwenty minutes of cycling later he arrived at his sister's place.

nHis sister stayed in a communal house she was sharing with four of her friends. They had all met during their first year, having become good friends quickly during that time. At that time they had all stayed in one of the university's hostels, their rooms having been insanely small. Which was one of the major reasons they decide to move to a commune together.

nHaving heard stories from his sister's life in the hostel his parents had decided to rather look for somewhere else Eldrian could stay. Which was how he had ended up with his place.

nEldrian felt appreciative of this while also being upset at the same time. He was glad to have his own place with lots of space. Yet he felt that he was missing out on the first-year experience he often heard about.

nWith the release of A New World, he felt more happy than angry at this. Having realized that he would most likely have been cooped up in his room, meaning he would still be missing the first-year experience in any case. Yet now he had a nice place as a bonus.

nCycling into the house's driveway Eldrian rang the bell and waited for someone to come and open for him, leaning against his bike as he waited. The commune owner had a strict rule on not sharing the keys to the place with any non-tenants. Thus Eldrian didn't have his own, at least not yet.

nHis sister was still on the fence about giving him a pair, feeling that it would be nice to have a spare with her brother. Yet also that giving a guy the keys to a house full of women made her hesitate.

nAround a minute later one of his sister's friends came out of the house and opened the gate for him. Jumping off his bicycle Eldrian pushed it inside, placing it against the fence of the house before joining the girl who opened it for him.

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"Why did you suddenly want to come and visit your sis?

" The girl asked after Eldrian had placed his bike against the fence. The girls kept their bicycles at the back, having been warned to not keep it in the open. Yet guests would normally just leave theirs in the front since they wouldn't stay for long.

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"I just missed a homecooked meal,

" Eldrian replied as he looked at her. Her hair was dark blonde, fitting well with her brown eyes and tanned skin. Her name was Marcy and she was Eldrian's sister's BFF. They would never go out without each other.

nThis was only the second time Eldrian had met her in person, but he had heard plenty of stories including her. From those stories, Eldrian knew that she liked to tease guys, especially shy or introverted ones. Hence he didn't really feel comfortable around her, often feeling threatened by her.

nCurrently, she was in casual yet revealing clothing. Wearing a large loose shirt over short denim shorts, making Eldrian feel that the gossip he heard was certainly true. At least partially.

nEldrian could never understand the reason for wearing such short pants, as it made it impossible to add useful pockets onto them. Yet at this time he felt he understood another purpose, making him hate himself for even considering the thought.

nHe had promised himself to never date one of his sister's friends, yet here he was starting to feel attracted to her BFF.

n'Stop it, think about the stupid pockets! They can't even fit a wallet, keys, and a phone. How useless.' Eldrian monologued, trying to keep his mind of the other matters.

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