This Is Exciting

"Log out," Chen voiced out.

<LOGGING OUT PLAYER CR5>

Chen's mind got pulled back into the real world in the next few moments. He found himself laying within the immersion pod once more and took off his gaming helmet as the pod slid open.

The first thing he felt the moment he opened his eyes was thirst. In the game, he had been gone for about a day but in the real world, it was only half a day.

However, going half a day without consuming anything would of course have a negative effect on the body.

Especially when Chen had been working all through the night before this. The immersion pod was specially built to keep the body in a preserved state so one could stay in the game for days if they wanted to but upon coming out they'd definitely feel thirsty.

Chen came out of the pod in the next instant and moved out of his room. Towards the left end of this small corridor led to the door of Remi's room while the right led downstairs.

The apartment was a two-bedroom apartment and he had been struggling to pay the rent for as long as he could remember.

Despite it having two rooms, it looked raggedy and there was barely enough space.

Pete would have opted for a one-room apartment and slept in the living room so Remi could take the room but he couldn't find any apartment like that when they moved here.

Back in the days when their parents were still alive, their mansion had over seven rooms and most of them were king-sized.

This was already a huge downgrade for them and he was still finding it hard to pay the rent.

Chen walked down the stairs and moved towards where the kitchen was located according to his memories.

He initially wanted to take water from the fridge but he suddenly recalled the fridge was faulty and they no longer made use of it.

Chen went ahead to take water from the tap while letting out a low sigh. The entire place was practically a dump and nothing here seemed to be in good condition.

'Although I know it wasn't your fault but to have your sister living like this feels a little irresponsible,' Chen thought inwardly as he stared at the state of the kitchen.

He still remembered learning some skills related to fixing electrical appliances in his younger days back on his earth.

He opened up the fridge and scrutinized its interior before proceeding to check different spots and noting down the issues.

"I could fix this with the right tools... It's not too different from the refrigerators on my earth," Chen said while closing the fridge back.

"On what earth big brother?" Remi suddenly appeared at the kitchen entrance while voicing out.

"Remi," Chen sounded a little startled as he called her name after noticing her presence.

"I meant, I can fix the refrigerator because I've been down to earth lately reading some skills-related books," Chen said with a wry smile after cooking up this lame sentence to cover up for his blunder.

"I could have sworn I heard you say 'my earth' big brother," Remi stated while rubbing her eyes like she was just waking up from sleep.

"You certainly heard wrong. Where can I..." Chen paused before he could make another blunder.

He was about to ask where he could get tools to use in fixing the fridge but then this would make him look even more suspicious as Pete was supposed to know such information.

"...Your food?" Remi misinterpreted the incomplete question as him asking for food and proceeded to move to a part of the kitchen.

"You've been playing that game all day so your food has gone cold tsk tsk hold on let me warm it up for you," Remi said with a look of dissatisfaction due to her concern for Pete before moving to place the food stored in a container within the warmer.

A wry smile appeared on Chen's face as he moved to the side to wait. He was indeed feeling hungry after staying so long without food.

With the grade of immersion pod Pete owned, he couldn't immerse himself in Overworld for more than forty-two hours or it would take a negative toll on his body.

Chen searched his memories for where he could get tools around here and finally recalled where a shop was located at the far end of their street.

He checked his pocket and could only find 6$ and a few cents.

'It's been too long since I was this broke,' A smile appeared on Pete's face while in thought.

Going back to being broke gave him a sense of adventure and motivation to climb back to the top even though he was now in a different world with a different identity entirely.

He used to be a well-known business mogul and having such status came from being business smart.

He was sure he could use his experience to start up something here that could blossom and become great even though it might take some time.

'This is exciting,' Chen said internally before proceeding to move out of the apartment while shoving the small cash back into his pocket.

-

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

The sound of metal colliding rang out as Chen squatted in the kitchen with a hammer in his grasp.

Remi stood behind him looking fascinated as she watched him repair the refrigerator.

He had gone out earlier to get the required tools for fixing the refrigerator.

"How did you learn to do this big brother?" She asked with her cute cat-like eyes glowing with interest.

"I just read some books," Chen responded before standing to his feet.

"Plug it in, it should work now," He added while standing aside.

Remi moved towards the wire area and plugged it into an electric socket behind.

Pah!

After turning it on, a weird vibrating noise was heard from the fridge.

"It works! Big brother you're a genius," Remi giggled and jumped up joyfully while praising Chen.

However, in the next few minutes, the place descended into darkness as the power supply was cut.

Chen looked up, "What happened?" he questioned with a look of confusion.

"The landlady must have cut the power supply again. She does this when we're behind on rent," Remi said with a crestfallen look.

"PAY UP IF YOU WANT THE POWER SUPPLY BACK LEECH PETE!"

An angry female voice was heard from outside, followed by footsteps that kept growing fainter until they could no longer be heard.

"Ooof I'll get the rent paid soon Remi," Chen voiced out as he recalled that this was truly a normal occurrence.

"Don't worry too much about it big brother. I can manage," Remi dawned a pretty smile as she responded to Chen.

He was dazed for a bit before coughing twice to regain his composure.

"I'm heading to work," He said before walking out of the kitchen.

Remi recalled something and yelled out, "Big brother your food,"

She quickly picked up his food and ran after him.

*************

Hours later Chen was working another night shift but unlike the last time, Arjun was absent. Today was his off day so Chen figured he would be home resting with his pregnant wife.

Chen's day off was the next day and his next time coming to the factory, would be during the daytime.

He would have a lot of time to play Overworld without having to worry about being late to work and getting fired.

This job was temporary but he couldn't afford to get fired right now until he found a way to start making good money from Overworld.

From the information he had gathered, many gamers didn't work day jobs or 9 to 5 anymore since they started earning with Overworld so the aim was to achieve that as well.

Clearing the debts was still the first step though.

With a newfound determination, Chen focused on work lifting the bags of sugar and transporting them to the truck outside.