The Apple Of Reset

Just as he expected, the exp wasn't added.

"This might be more difficult than I expected," Chen felt he was an idiot for thinking it was going to be simple.

Even Pete who was considered a gaming genius when he first started was unable to find a solution even after five months had gone by.

He combed through Pete's memories for the research he had done to find solutions.

Most of them had to do with him buying items that were currently too expensive.

Not only was he wallowing in debt, but it would also be impossible to purchase such items since they caused millions of dollars.

His only option was to find a way inside the game.

He noticed that Pete had given up two months ago since he couldn't leave the border of the village, he couldn't look for solutions.

Pete had completed every single quest issued within this village countless times yet none of the rewards had assisted him.

He had scanned every nook and cranny of this village, hoping for a miracle but nothing like that happened.

Even though Chen knew all this, he wasn't going to give up easily.

He started walking around the village.

He would meet the villagers and have conversations with them about going beyond the boundaries of the village.

The villagers were NPCs but they interacted with him like they were real.

Chen was even starting to think that this was a normal world and maybe players were actually Intruders because the NPCs interaction with him was very realistic.

"Hey, town chief tell me how to leave the village?"

-"I have told you countless times, Noble adventurer, you must rise beyond level 9 before you can be free to wander beyond the boundaries,"

"Is there any way to do that without reaching level 10?"

-"I'm afraid not Noble Adventurer! Go and increase your strength first,"

This was how Chen's conversation with the town chief ended.

Chen still didn't stop conversing with the villagers one after the other.

He was so desperate that he even asked some of the village kids.

Six hours had gone by just like that and Chen hadn't managed to find out any useful information neither had he managed to come up with any ideas.

He felt frustrated and downcast.

According to the villagers, it was impossible to leave at level 8.

The villagers also never left the village since everything they needed was within the vicinity of the village.

Food, clothing, shelter. They had the three most important things needed for survival.

Chen figured it should be evening time in the real world which meant he would have to log out of the game soon.

He would still do a night shift at the factory so he could get a small sum to feed his sister and himself.

There was practically no room for sleep today.

After walking around the village repeatedly, he went towards the forest area again.

He walked till he arrived at the village boundaries.

He stood before the boundary and stared at the long path ahead.

There was still a forest after this but it wasn't as dense as the one within the boundaries of the village.

He could see trees with different kinds of fruits on both sides of the long path.

According to Pete's memories, he couldn't go beyond this point.

That path happened to lead to a more advanced town on this part of the continent.

"What do I do now?" Chen looked around with a fatigued expression.

"I'm sure he would have found a solution if he could leave this place," Chen muttered while still staring ahead.

"What's that...?" Chen noticed a plant growing out of the ground on the left side of the path.

The plant grew taller in the blink of an eye and reached a height of three meters, becoming a small tree.

A glowing purplish fruit was hanging from one of the branches. This was the only fruit on the tree.

A small headache assaulted Chen again as he recalled something.

"Ah, it's gonna waste again," he mumbled with a low tone.

Part of Pete's memories that wasn't revealed earlier, gave him information about that tree and the fruit it bore.

"The apple of reset!" Chen sighed.

This apple was said to reset a player back to their initial state.

If a player consumed it they would return to level 1 and start from the beginning.

There was something else that the fruit was known for.

It was known to heal any type of injury or sickness when it is brought into the real world.

It practically reset the state of a person's body in terms of health.

"So he truly did find a solution but could never reach out to grab it," Chen stated with a crestfallen look.

The tree was more than a hundred meters away which meant it was beyond the boundaries.

The tree only appeared here once a month. After 24 hours had passed it would wither only for it to appear after another month had gone by again.

It was said to be very rare and expensive also but Chen had no idea, why it always appeared here, according to Pete's memories.

It was pretty useless even if it did, since he couldn't cross the boundaries.

Chen sighed, "This must have been really frustrating for you as it is for me," He stretched out his hand to touch the barrier that was supposed to barricade the boundary.

Zwwiii!

"Hmm?" Chen noticed that his hand went right through thin air instead of making contact with the barrier.

"What?" Chen exclaimed with a look of disbelief.

He pulled his hand back and stretched it out again.

His hand went forward without being obstructed by anything.

"What is happening?"

He still couldn't believe it so he decided to walk forward.

One step!

Two steps!

Three steps!

Seven steps!

Twelve steps!

Before Chen knew it he had gone past the boundary and was still moving forward without obstruction.

"Shouldn't a barrier stop me moving beyond the boundary?" Chen searched Pete's memories.

The picture of Pete touching and punching the barrier repeatedly in frustration played out in his head.

Truly Pete had never been able to cross the boundaries.

"Why is this happening?" Chen still felt like he was dreaming.

Now that he remembered, he never tried going beyond the boundary in these Seven hours that he had spent within the game.

He only just tried to make contact now.

"Doesn't this mean I've been giving myself unnecessary stress since the start?" Chen had the urge to facepalm.

Now he regretted not trying to touch the barrier from the onset.

"The fruit," He recalled the fruit which was on the tree ahead of him.

Chen ran towards the tree and stopped in front of it.

He looked up at the shiny purple fruit hanging from the branch up.

"Ah, finally, finally, I will be able to heal you... I mean me..." Chen felt a rush of excitement as he stared at the fruit.

He bent his knees a bit before jumping up.

His body lifted into the air and got to the height of the fruit.

Grab!

He grabbed the fruit and pulled it forcefully while descending.

Plop!

He landed back on his feet with the fruit in his hand.

<Player has acquired, APPLE OF RESET!>