Ray went downstairs at five in the morning to make himself something to eat.

He found it strange that he hadn’t felt hungry for the past twelve hours, as if his need for sustenance had decreased. Ray decided he would see if his body underwent any other changes.

But first, food.

What to eat, what to eat, Ray wondered as he opened up the fridge. He knew his mom usually kept it stocked up with healthy choices and decent snacking options.

Everything looked good to him. Ray paused for a few moments, considering his options. Couldn’t hurt to just eat it, right? So he decided to eat it all.

Ten minutes later, he was done. He’d eaten everything edible in the fridge. His stomach had turned into a bottomless pit. Ray was barely conscious when he was eating. He looked around and saw a maelstrom of wrappers, plates, and cans.

What in the . . . Ray stared, aghast at his discovery. He found that he didn’t even remember what he’d done. It had been instinctual, a primal force within him devouring all the food in the area. He then felt his stomach with his hands. His stomach had barely risen at all, even though he’d eaten so much.

Was he even human anymore?

Ray took a look at the area around him and tried to calculate just how many calories he had eaten. There were a few snickers bars, some leftover pizza, and a plate full of assorted vegetables amongst other healthy and unhealthy foods.

Maybe this has something to do with the immersion, Ray wondered to himself as he looked at the destruction. He sighed, then began cleaning up. Something was clearly changing him.

Ten minutes later, he was done cleaning up. The kitchen looked passable now, much to his satisfaction. It just felt wrong to leave a mess out in the kitchen.

Ray also felt full. Eating what looked like ten thousand calories had slightly bulged his stomach out, and he patted it with his hand. Usually, his stomach would have risen by now, if not before he cleaned up.

I don’t feel bloated or anything, he thought. Interesting. So I don’t need to sleep and I can eat a lot without feeling wrecked? This is insane!

Ray pulled up a status window to check if anything had changed. He wasn’t surprised to learn that there weren’t any changes. It seemed like his status window wouldn’t report anything like that. He’d just have to discover his altered self a little at a time.

Ray killed a little bit of time playing games on his phone before heading back upstairs. Sunlight was dawning on the world now, and he was eager to see if any messages had been sent to him while he was away.

There were no messages. So Ray decided to go ahead and do a little research on his own, starting with the new guild feature. Maybe someone online had put a guide out by now. He was used to searching for information on the internet anyhow.

Luckily, someone had.

“How to use the new guild feature in the immersion,” Ray read off the screen, scrolling down to the summary section first. “Each guild will have a guild hall, a guild barracks, and a guild cafeteria. It is currently unknown whether guilds will be improved in the future or if the immersion has other plans for this system. It seems like guilds will be an important part of the new immersion moving forward.”

‘Cindy Adams,’ Ray thought, reading the username of the writer. ‘Is that an actual name?’

It was rare to see such an informative, well-written post on the forums. Although, he hadn’t seen the features that the post was talking about. Ray opened up the guild window once again.

Guild Member

Level

Contribution Points

Rank

Status

xDarkOverlordx

15

5000

Leader

Alive

RayD

10

1000

Mate

Alive

ExpressionZ

6

0

Mate

Alive

MutosKid

4

0

Mate

Alive

TMTMTMTM

4

500

Mate

Alive

Move to guild hall?

There was a guild hall option. Ray brushed his hand over the bottom line, prompting another box to pop up. It was a confirmation box, one which he immediately pressed confirm.

A countdown timer started in front of the window, counting down from ten. Ray braced himself, feeling a little apprehension at the ticking number.

Then, his vision changed.

Ray found himself in a wide-open enclosed room. The room was not decorated and had the feel of an old shabby apartment. He looked down and found that the flooring was tan-colored hardwood. At least, it felt like it against his socks. Ray sniffed the air and it even smelled like an old apartment.

There was nobody else around as he panned his attention through the room. Ray felt like he was missing something. Why would the immersion transport him into a random room?

“Hello?” Ray called out. He turned around and was met with more of the same drab background. There was nothing of interest within the room.

“Anyone there?” Ray tried again. Still no response. He suddenly felt awkward for having expected anything. There was clearly no one in the guild hall. Ray decided to wait around a little bit for any changes while carefully observing his surroundings.

A few minutes trickled by before Ray gave up.

‘Well then. Maybe further research is needed.’ Ray thought to himself. ‘How do I leave this place?’

“Quit! Leave now! Get me out. . .” Ray trailed off. He realized he didn’t know how to get out of the guild hall. That probably would have been a good thing to know, before he had decided to press the button. Ray vowed to do his due diligence from now on, instead of pressing random buttons to go to random places.

He flipped open the guild window again.

A deep voice came from behind him.

“You’re early! The meeting doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes.”

Ray turned around to find himself face to face with a very large bearded man in a fedora. He widened his eyes as he realized who it was.

“Uncle Tim?” Ray gasped in shock. “What are you doing here?”