It was a mostly quiet morning. All that could be heard was the pleasant chirping of the birds and the occasional passing of a car.

Once the clock hit six, however, the quiet was broken.

Rrrrinnng!

Rrrrinnng!

Rrrrinnng!

The terrible sound of an alarm clock disturbed the peaceful morning.

Solomon slowly rose out of bed as he wiped his eyes.

"Monday, huh? I hate Mondays...."

Solomon wasn't a morning person. He was the type of person to stay up late into the night and wake up after halfway through the next day.

Unfortunately for him, he was a student, which forced him into a an early-rising cycle.

After getting out of bed, Solomon prepared himself for the day. He took a warm shower after eating a large breakfast of eggs, rice, and toast.

After showering and eating, he changed into his schools uniform which composed of a white colored shirt and khaki pants.

Solomon left home on his bike after saying goodbye to his parents.

When he left home, the sun was still beginning its ascent, and thus the world was still covered in a grayish shade.

As he biked, the cool morning air chilled his skin. His warm breath gave off a strange feeling to his skin when contrasted to the chilly weather. Along the way to his school, Solomon would see all kinds of things. As he passed by a convenience store, he would occasionally see a fellow student being scolded for shoplifting. As he passed by an apartment complex, he would sometimes see an old woman caring for her plants. The cars that would zoom past him would be different each day as well.

Every day was different.

Everyone had their own lives. Sometimes Solomon would wonder what life was like from their perspective, and guessed that curiosity of his was the reason for his love for VR.

With VR, Solomon could experience countless lives other than his own. With VR, Solomon could sate his curiosity for a new perspective.

After a twenty minute ride, Solomon arrived at his school. It seemed that he arrived sooner than he expected.

Solomon locked his bike at the nearest bike rack then made his way toward his first class.

The school's campus was composed of multiple buildings which encouraged the students to walk under the sun. The area was known for its great weather that lasted all year, so no-one had a problem with this.

The exposure to the sun in this campus was also the reason for Solomon's slight tan. Had this been a mostly indoor school which confined its students to a single building, Solomon would probably look a sickly white. Besides his exercise and time at school, Solomon spent almost no time outdoors.

Solomon dragged his still tired body to his first class. The room wasn't open, so he decided to sit and lean his back to the building.

"Why do you look so tired? Did you play games the entire weekend?"

Solomon raised his head to the voice of his friend Tommy.

Tommy was two heads taller than Solomon and was quite muscular. He had very tanned skin and short black hair. He looked the part of an athlete.

Tommy had been friends with Solomon since middle school. They had known each other before Solomon even tried VR.

The youth named Tommy was a star athlete in the school. He would play in the almost all of the school's sports teams. Whether it was track, football, soccer, or basketball, Tommy would rise to be one of the top participants.

Although Tommy was younger than Solomon by six months, Solomon looked like the younger of the two.

Solomon replied with a low grumble.

"I didn't play for the entire weekend... just for most of it...I did some exercise..."

Tommy made a crooked smile.

"We're already juniors in high school. Shouldn't you be more focused on your grades or something?"

Tommy didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his friend's behavior. He then continued.

"And not that I'm discouraging your exercising... its actually good that you go outside instead of shutting yourself in all the time... but why do go to those exercise centers? We're still students. The mandatory exercise and mandatory time outside doesn't apply to us. We already spend a lot of our time at school."

Solomon expected this question to come up sooner or later. Solomon began his exercise at the youth center a year ago. What Tommy said was true. The mandatory exercise and time outdoors only applied to shut-ins who weren't students or were jobless.

Solomon gave a simple reply to his friend.

"I don't neglect my grades. You don't have the right to question me about that when your grades are below mine! You're the one who neglects his grades for sports. And as for my exercising . . . I just feel like I should."

Although Solomon wasn't a complete NEET, he was very close to one. The only thing keeping him from it was his identity as a student.

He was aware of his present predicament and felt uncomfortable knowing he was at a near NEET status.

In order to appease his guilt, Solomon decided to at least visit the youth center to perform the "mandatory exercise".

"I can't be a complete shut-in" He thought.

Obviously, Tommy couldn't read Solomon's thoughts, and did not know what Solomon meant by his words. He did, however, understand that Solomon was an extreme introvert and that he had trouble expressing himself.

Tommy decided to leave the topic alone and move on to another one.

Outside in the cool morning air, the two boys sat and continued their idle chatter until class began.