Death Penalty

Lomeir acted swiftly, still clutching his sword within its scabbard. He unsheathed the blade without hesitation and swung it towards Akio. Despite the opportunity to evade the blow, Akio was caught off guard, halfway through putting on his pants. Lomeir's strike landed successfully.

"Father!" Karina screamed, covering her eyes and blushing at the unexpected sight of Akio.

"That'll teach you to be naked in front of a man's shop, especially in front of my only daughter. The nerve of some people," Lomeir remarked.

Akio observed as his body slowly pixelated, watching his HP drop to zero. The blow was precise, compounded by his already low HP; it was the exact damage needed to be defeated.

"Whoa, he just disappeared!" Karina exclaimed.

"Must've been one of those heroes!" Lomeir said with anger. "Did you know him, Karina? Why was he naked in our shop?"

Karina couldn't help but laugh. "Father, you're lucky it wasn't someone from the village. I know the prophecy said the heroes are immortal, but I had no idea they could be unsummoned."

"Serves him right. Besides, I wouldn't have hesitated to swing even if it was that friend of yours, Figmond. No one disrespects my daughter or shop," Lomeir declared as he sheathed his sword.

"How did you sleep, Karina?"

"Alright, Father, but I'm more worried about you."

"Why so?"

"Look at those bags under your eyes! You haven't slept properly! Do you think you can run a shop half-asleep? You taught me, why work if you're going to half-ass everything!"

"...Did I say that?"

"Anyways, Father, I hope that hero doesn't harbor any anger towards us."

"Why?"

"Take a look," she said, opening a sack full of Twisted Rabid Bunny Ears.

"Karina! Where did you get all of these?"

"Well, that hero gifted them to us as a token of gratitude. He was different from the rest of those so-called 'heroes.' I wonder if we'll see him again."

"Karina, these are... How in all the gods did he acquire these?" Lomeir asked, a mix of surprise and fear evident on his face.

Akio found himself in the white void once again. Suspended in nothingness, he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, contemplating his untimely demise.

"How could I die on the first day of the release...ugh, I hope I get the chance to recover the clothes and map. I didn't get a chance to add them to my inventory," Akio lamented.

Suddenly, he felt his feet touch a floor. Without opening his eyes, he heard a small, muffled laugh.

"...?"

"Hehe, um... you mind covering your down there," a voice said.

Akio cautiously opened his eyes, facing a small girl with an amazing white dress and white hair. She stood with closed eyes and a slight blush. Embarrassed, Akio quickly covered himself.

"Um, sorry, I got killed while changing."

"Don't worry, I saw...this is a first. Here, let's give you some underwear," she said with a flick of her wrist.

Akio was magically provided with a pair of white underwear to cover himself.

"Um...thank you. Where am I?"

"You don't know? Well, I'll clear that up for you...you died," the little girl stated, closing her eyes and smiling.

"Wait, so I don't respawn or anything?"

"Nope, you have died and therefore have a 48-hour penalty since your login. Sooo, you can respawn two days after the hour you initially logged in."

"Two days?!"

"Yes."

"Your time is currently 23:17 IRL. Bye-bye now..." After bidding farewell, Akio was sent back into the white void.

A trip like no other, traveling through the white void felt amazing—something that would never get old. Akio opened his eyes to complete darkness. Another void? No, this time he could feel himself lying down. Wiggling his toes and moving his arms, he realized he was in his body IRL. The cube opened on its own, allowing Akio to escape its walls.

"23:18, she was right. I've only been in the game for four hours...that's roughly 16 hours in Three Realms. That was crazy," Akio muttered, watching his hands tremble with excitement.

Something about it felt like a cheat code for life, yet he felt fine. He had never slept better. Although he woke up close to midnight, he felt well-rested. Despite the 48-hour death penalty that annoyed him, he couldn't help but feel happy.

"I don't feel like I missed a second of sleep and don't feel like I miss regular sleep at all. In fact, I don't think regular sleep will compare to it."

Akio got up from his bed, putting the cube away. He walked downstairs for a late-night snack, finding a note taped to the fridge.

'How was it?'

"Yeah, just wait till I have him yelling at my ear if I liked it."

Akio felt as if that the game was worth bragging about, and with a smile, he forgave his father, knowing there was still much to explore.

Akio awoke to his usual 7 AM alarm. After indulging in a late-night snack, he retreated to his room in search of a new drama to watch. Unfortunately, his quest for entertainment proved futile. Stretching himself, he gazed out of the window into the morning sunlight, feeling more rested than ever. In fact, he wondered if he had slept too much. After a four-hour stint in the game, he had returned to sleep at 1 AM, enjoying an additional six hours of rest. Curiosity piqued, he pondered if anything extraordinary had occurred in the game.

Energetically, Akio leaped from his bed and headed to his desk. He scoured various websites but found no substantial information or news about the game. Only a handful of random online forums touched on the topic, providing no new insights.

"Why is that?" he wondered, turning away from his desk to prepare for school.

After completing his school preparations, Akio returned to his desk, hoping for fresh updates. The headline of a recently published news article caught his eye: '12 Hour Max.'

"12-hour max?" Akio questioned as he delved into the article.

"...Upon playing the VR video game, I was immediately hooked! I had never felt or seen anything like it in my life. Of course, I may be biased, but when someone tries the game for the first time, they would be too. I spent approximately two days inside the game that released at 19:00 the day before...while nearing the 48 hours in-game, it politely prompted that the maximum login time was 12 hours IRL. I had never spent that many hours sleeping in my life...when I went through the initial tutorial, I was told that I could set a timer within my menu to wake me..." Akio read.

Stunned, Akio realized the implications. If the average gamer played for 12 hours every day in the real world, they would possibly face physical penalties taking a toll on their body. However, this game seemed to change everything.

"Did you play the game last night?"

"Yo, you need to check out this girl I met in the game."

"I spent the whole two days in-game grinding out my stats."

"...that's sick, man. I couldn't afford a copy, but maybe give me a month and I'll get the funds."

"ALRIGHT CLASS! Settle down," Akio's teacher announced to the chattery classroom. The lectures began, but all Akio could think about was Three Realms Online. Even his classmates were all abuzz over it.

"Okay, and if we distribute..."

Akio felt as if the world had gone silent. Not a single word from the lecture made its way into his ear canal.

"...and the answer is x is equal to... ALRIGHT, YOU ALL, THAT'S ENOUGH!" The teacher yelled, breaking his chalk on the board. His actions were a response to the non-stop chatter throughout the classroom. Naturally, this threw every student into utter silence. The scream even caught Akio's attention, who had been daydreaming about the game.

"Do you all think talking about a game during class is acceptable?"

"We're sorry, teach, it's just the game is something like we've never seen before. That's all. It won't happen again," a student remarked.

"And you think I don't know that it's a magnificent game? I too spent the entire 48 hours in-game. I couldn't get enough of it, but the class MUST GO ON!"

"Wait, teach... you played TRO?" (Three Realms Online)

"Of course, I did!" The teacher said with pride, fixing his glasses with his middle finger while looking down.

"As a matter of fact, in those two days, I came up with the world's most genius idea," he said, a clear sparkle of light reflecting off his glasses.

"What?"

"Picture this, my students! Imagine attending class in-game!! Or even our very own study group!!! I already checked with some locals in the town of Fugesmore, and they are willing to sell me a building as long as I have the funds!"

"How lame, teach!"

"You want us to study in-game! No!"

The teacher laughed a dark laugh and took pride in his idea, pumping his chest up with confidence.

"Wait a second, that might actually be a good idea... if we go to class in-game, we could only go once during the 48-hour login session. That would mean we can either have no school IRL and switch to only in-game, or finish the school year earlier if we stack in-game and IRL class days," Akio thought.

"Once I'm fully certain, and test, that all information gained during in-game can be regained once you wake up, then I will take my proposal to the faculty," Akio's teacher added.

"There's only one problem. If a player dies in-game, they get a penalty of 48 hours IRL," Akio pondered within his head.

Akio was slightly excited about that idea and hoped they could somehow make it work. If this game was to change the world, this approach to mixing life and game would be the key.