3 The Pods Arrival

After Louies dad came home from work his mum went to the kitchen and started to cook dinner. His father sat on his own singular couch and asked about Louies day.

Replying with what he told his mother, his dad nodded as he turned the tv on and switched it to the news channel. On the news was a news reporter in the company that made the immersion pods and the fully immersive VRMMORPG game 'Realm'.

He was explaining how to use the pods to play the game. Suddenly Louies father spoke out.

"I'm sorry son… I know you probably also want to play that game but it's just a little pricey and we can't afford it right now…"

Louie's heart ached as he remembered how his past life reacted to this, he was so rude and ungrateful as he started to get angry when he got told he wouldn't be able to get the immersion pod.

But now thankfully he was a changed person he smiled as he got up and hugged his father.

"Don't worry dad, I already know we are struggling right now, don't worry about something like that and let me deal with it, ok?"

As tears suddenly threatened to leave his dads eyes he hugged back and cried. He was thankful that he had a son that understood their situation and didn't lash out.

His mum then called them for dinner and they all eat and talked as a happy family, laughing and bonding. They spoke about anything that popped into their heads.

After dinner Louie went to his small room and looked at his mail on his phone. He had an email that was from the company. He immediately pressed it and started to read.

[Congratulations! Louie you have been chosen to be a tester for the immersion pods that haven't been released. As you read when you sign up the pod will have the ability to let you stay in the game for long periods of time. This means that there could be some risks in using the pod. If you have any troubles immediately contact us and we will send someone to help. The pod will be delivered at 6:00 pm tomorrow.

Sky Corp.]

Smiling Louie immediately got excited as everything he could do with the pod. Hardly no one has access to the pod other than around 5 people that all got to the leaderboard of top 20 in the game.

Closing the mail he stretched as he went to sleep on his uncomfortable bed. As he was sleeping he had a dream about his past life, where he had to kill a bit of people that tried to attack him for just being strong as they were jealous.

In the morning Louie groggily got out of bed as he looked at the time. Noticing it was time to go college he was about to get changed. But his father came in and reminded that he had no college as he only goes 3 days a week; Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

After his parents left for work Louies expression turned serious. He remembered a fatal part of 'Realm', the immersion pod scans your real body to get the stats in game. This was so people who put effort on making their bodies healthier has more of an advantage than others who don't.

Immediately he got into clothes and started working on his own body. He started with a run to warm up his body. He didn't sprint as he didn't want to tire himself instantly, so he jogged lightly as he went around the block a few times.

As he finished warming up, he went back to his house where he started to do simple workouts like; push ups, sit ups, crunches and some more.

After a few hours of working out with his knowledge, he did the optimal routine that strained all his muscles to gain the best outcome. After he was breathing heavily and sweating profusely, that made him wipe sweat from his forehead and hop into the shower.

Louie spent the rest of his day resting and putting his memories into order for the future. As he was thinking the doorbell sounded throughout the house.

Getting up and going to the door he wondered who it was, he wasn't expecting anyone for another few hours when the pod comes.

Opening the door two men in delivery attire was standing in front of a large box. Surprised Louie welcomed them in and they started to get to work. They unpacked the box and started to set up the immersion pod.

They set it up in the attic where there was enough space to fit it. After they hooked it up to the electricity they installed everything and left. In a small box they left multiple packets of solution that had nutrients in it to sustain the body while playing 'Realm'.

Louie entered the pod and turned it on which made the lid close with a mechanical sound. After a few seconds his consciousness faded as he entered the menu of 'Realm'.

When Louie opened his eyes again it was in a white void where there was nothing but his thoughts. After being in the white realm for a moment a purple screen appeared in front of Louie.

[Welcome! 'Realm' will be launched in 5:03mins. Would you like to create your character right now?]

[Y/N]

Louie instantly clicked yes and multiple screens popped up and the immersion pod started to scan his body in real life. After everything was scanned a single window appeared.

[Stats]

Name: ???

HP: 100

Qi: 0

Cultivation Base: Mortal

Title: …

Strength: 8

Agility: 11

Dexterity: 9

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Sense: 20

[Techniques]

…

After he was done reading he closed the panel sighing. He wanted to work his body more but he only had 5 hours left until the game launched. His body couldn't be strengthened more as there wasn't enough time.

The only way one could strengthen their bodies in a short time was cultivation, but Qi didn't enter earth's atmosphere until the game was fully launched and people started entering the game 'Realm'.

Accepting this fact he logs out the pod and waits for his parents to come home. The lid of the pod makes a mechanical noise as it rises letting Louie out.

Stepping out he stretches and walked downstairs, he got to the couch and slumped into it turning the tv on. After an hour of watching tv, the door opened and Louies mother walks in looking tired.

Worried Louie rushes and helps his mum go to the couch and rest. After he got her a glass of water and asked what happened.

"Don't worry sweetie, work was just tiring. The person I'm teaching wouldn't pay attention so I had to explain things over and over again."

The only thing he could do was let his mother rest.