Ch. 2 - Time flies

Nick had spent the last six months going through the dungeon over and over again, deciding to ignore one last dark hallway the entire time, since he had a feeling that was the room.

He felt if this really was the mystical first key, he should let his closest friend, Parzival find it first. Though, that changed real quick when he ran into someone while farming the dungeon again. Sorry Parzival.

"Whoa-!", Nick yelped, as a red and black themed girl had rammed into him by accident, excitement clearly having taken over her senses when she found the place.

"What the fu-!", the girl nearly exclaimed out loud, as she fell, clearly not having expected someone to be there, and she nearly pulled a weapon out on him, when she noticed he had fallen too.

"Uhm ... Who are you?", Nick asked, confused. He hasn't been able to view much of other players game names, although the girl does seem a little familiar.

"I could ask the same of you. I thought I was the first to find this place.", The girl looked very annoyed, and upset, but Nick shrugged it off.

"Apologies, but, I've been here for months. In fact, I've been postponing something, so I'll leave you here, and be right back.", Nick said while smiling, quickly turning and running through the halls.

He's maneuvered these tunnels very easily thanks to memorizing the dungeon, and soon enough, he was at the one place he's not searched.

Back up top, the girl grunted, regretting not following the guy, and now she has to go slowly. It's worsened by the fact that just then, the Dungeon reset had it's daily reset, allowing the traps to reactivate, and the monsters to respawn.

Thankfully, Nick didn't have to worry about that, soon walking into a dark room. The room brightens, until it reveals a lich like monster on a throne.

"Why isn't it getting up..?", he asks himself, approaching it, and just then, it stands, but doesn't attack. It still scared the hell out of Nick, though, while it begins walking around, until it approaches a game, specifically? Joust.

"Joust. It comes down to a game of Joust. You've gotta be kidding me!", Nick yelled in frustration, not noticing the Lich nod slightly, seemingly understanding his frustration.

The Lich then took the left side of the box, quickly starting the game. Nick hurried to the other side, and tried to game as well, but after countless tries later, he cursed in frustration. It was time to head to bed.

Back with the Red and Black haired, and themed girl, it seems she had left hours earlier after witnessing what game Nick was playing against the Lich. She didn't want to admit it to any one, but she too, sucked at that game in particular.

{=========}

Back in the real world, Nick got up, and did some stretches for thirty minutes. After he was finished with that, he headed to the bathroom, did his business, then ordered some pizza for the afternoon.

"Damn... how long is it gonna take that girl, or for that matter, anyone else who finds the dungeon, to take the first key? I should've done this long ago.. but maybe.... maybe I should try to use this time I have as practice, until I can do it regardless.", Nick spoke to himself.

Thirty Minutes later, he went outside, preparing to jog, as he looked at his bank account. He had earned a lot of money, and items going through constantly, not even leaving Ludus for anything else, and his level had reached 60, though his friends didn't know that quite yet

[Game Account Total: 400,000 Coins]

[Bank Account Transfer Total: $469,420]

He's almost become half-a-millionaire, in less than a year. He's looking to finish out by the end of this with at least one million total, and use those funds to get a better home, a mode of transport, a new game set up, and try and use a little to help Parzival.

He sighed finally, pulling on his old Nike shoes, and stepped out of his home, quickly beginning his late evening jog, as a way to stay fit, outside of the VR Headset.

{============}

A couple hours later, Nick arrived back at his home, sighing in exhaustion. He then stripped naked, looking over his lean muscled figure, grinning a bit.

"It's all definitely been paying off... Well, time to get clean", he spoke to himself, walking to the shower, and got clean as he intended, until he smelled like watermelon, and strawberries, from his face, to his ass.

When he came out, he smiled as he was greeted with the smell of the delicious Pepperoni Pizza he had ordered for this time. He opened the window, accepted the box, and waved the drone goodbye.

After another hour, he had finished his Pizza, and so he got back to his gear, starting the VR up, so he could try a few more times at Joust. Maybe actually adventure outside Ludus for a change if he's successful, but that's for later.

He spent three hours at the game, and while he lost, he got better and better, but it still just wasn't enough. As he was about to exit, he had an epiphany. Stopping in his tracks, he pointed to the Lich.

"Back up on the Game. But I'm taking first player.", he said in a commanding, but still nice tone of voice.

Surprised, the Lich nodded, beginning to grin. That was his clue that this was the right move.

Taking a hold of the new stick, and buttons, he looked over at the Lich, before back at the screen.

{CLICK}

It took over four hours of playing on the console, before he finally defeated the game. He was sweaty, tired, and overall exhausted, but with the sound of a chime, he smiled in success.

"Congratulations, Ash, for beating the first challenge! Here is your first Key, and a clue. I wish you luck in your Easter Egg hunt!", the Lich finally spoke up, raising it's face up to him so he can see it more clearly. It was actually Anorak, the All Knowing, or in other words, James Holliday himself.

He was too tired to be in awe of the man, so all he did was give the avatar a hug, then grabbed both the items, at the same time, his name appeared on the leaderboard, along with 100k coins to his account. He was now half a millionaire.

Logging out, he clocked out like a light, unaware of the chaos that began with that leaderboard announcing his win.