Time passes as Jason surfs the web. The benefits of reaching level ten in NeoRealm are sort of ridiculous. If from a nation’s standpoint reaching a certain age was adulthood, then level ten was NeoRealm’s version of it. Which with how the internet works now was basically reaching the age of majority on the web as well. Jason can only shake his head at how pervasive the game is. Even in his old life cultivation wasn’t the end all be all. Wizards, artificers, and alchemists to name a few had all vied for that position. Here though it all has been reduced down to one path to power. Jason can only assume there must be a reason for this. Whatever the secret was would just have to wait. Maybe with a higher level he would figure it out.

A glance up at the timer shocks him. Despite all the nonsense he just read there is still an hour and a half left. Jason is about to read some other stuff when an idea hits him. He hadn’t tried to cultivate outside of the game. There isn’t anything that passes time quite like cultivation.

Jason settles down into a comfortable position and mentally reaches out. At first there is nothing. In fact, second and third there is nothing as well. Not that he was expecting to notice anything in this short amount of time. So without any shock on his part the timer finishes counting down and an alarm goes off. It is right at that moment something glimmers on the edge of his mind and promptly disappears.

He can only sigh and head over to the desk. Once he is face to face with the clerk things go shockingly fast. It honestly makes the wait time feel worse. Just a yes and a no and this is what I want followed with a handshake sets up his new NeoRealm connected account. To be fair, it is one of the streamlined processes which the banks got leaned on hard to create. It raises the question of why this would suddenly let him do bank related things in NeoRealm. Especially when banks went through so much trouble to make sure you had to make normal changes in person. Strange but Jason can only file it under ‘worries for later’ as the convenience is near essential.

Besides that he is hungry and such deep thoughts can wait until after lunch? Dinner? He shakes his head and checks the time. “Brunch it is. Going to get some waffles.” Jason travels down 11 floors and hops onto one of those moving walkways and jogged along it for a few minutes. This brings him to a nice little shop just a few main hallways away from the center park. It actually doesn’t have a name and survives on word of mouth alone. The fact it is still around says something about the quality.

Jason enters the shop and waves at a camera in the corner. The menu has changed a little since the last time he was here but they still have his favorite. A stack of large pancakes marbled with caramel. He doesn’t know how the owner manages it but that topped with vanilla ice cream is divine.

Once his order is in the gas grill in the center of the room turns on and a robot rises from the floor. A wonderful connection between NeoRealm and the real world. The owner is still in VR running his restaurant there but when he gets a customer irl, he can hop into an ingame capsule and control the robot to cook. The original purpose of telepresence doctors is nice but at the moment Jason is here for pancakes. Anyway culinary magic happens and soon a steaming stack of pancakes appears in front of him.

Jason takes his time enjoying the pancakes. Few places in the arcology that he can get food this good for this cheap. If the shop wasn’t the owners passion project, he could have gotten a place in the geosync station above or in one of the secondary parks. Apparently his mom got introduced to the place by her boss's boss after she closed a linchpin deal for the company. Jason doesn’t even dare bring his closest friends to the place, so it doesn’t spread. Apparently the owner has closed up shop before and moved to a new secret location when it has gotten too busy.

Finished with that and quite full Jason decides to take the slow way back. He orders a ride back and after a few minutes a golf cart shows up. He stretches out on the seat before trying to cultivate again. As the cart trundles along and up ramps Jason reaches out with his mind. The world seems barren compared to even the worst lands from his past. If there was enough energy in the environment, there would be actual cultivators. However he knows there is something out there. He had felt it at the bank at the end. Jason had looked into it and while some of the older stories about monks and sages existed, it was all from long ago. There must have changed with this world in the past. Then once again just as he senses something an interruption happens. The cart has arrived at his house and was jerking forward and back while beeping. This wasn’t how they used to work but a few too many people would end up passed out on the carts. Either the movement would wake them up or the noise would get someone to come and get them off. A little annoyance was a lot cheaper than adding more carts to make up for it. Sure fusion power was cheap but they take materials to build and require maintenance. Even with telepresence so people can do the work from VR it adds up fast.