After excusing himself from his chat with his father, who just waved after him as William hurried back towards the house, the pale young man was already furiously typing away on his phone while a few other messages from Robert already popped up.

As always, he disregarded proper punctuation or grammar.

R: that was just wicked sick

R: havent even done anything yet

R: spawned in the city square and logged out lol

W: Are you screwing with me, or did you really spend eight real world hours in the Trials? You do realize that’s sixteen hours within the game?

R: yeah why

R: I dont see the problem

R: oh shit or did I miss some starting event

William rolled his eyes at that last line, and had to navigate the furniture on their patio for a moment, before he stepped back into the air-conditioned insides of his home. His mother was occupied elsewhere, at least not in the kitchen anymore, so he just headed upstairs to his room again.

W: No, not that I know of. But seriously, how did you play the tutorial for so long? Did you get stuck on naming your character or choosing your class?

R: nah

R: had to pick a “company mandated username”

R: so they can “better identify their employees”

R: wish I could go with the usual ones

W: Like what? Flexman McBeefcake?

R: nah

R: was thinking about Vomitcopter

R: just to screw with the hyper-immersive crowd hahaha

His hand not holding the phone slammed against his forehead in a resounding facepalm that left a decently red spot at the point of impact. Robert has always been like that, going for obscure and ridiculous names for his characters and sticking out like a sore thumb between Chelsea's and his own, mostly using “appropriate” names for the given settings.

W: Alright, spit it out. What did you do in your Trials? And how far did you get?

R: like five or six deep idk

R: but the third one really pushed my playtime

R: the one with the survival

R: been there from like dawn until it got dark

R: and got ambushed by something when I got into my shelter

William had to do a double-take at that statement and could only shake his head in disbelief. Of course he knew that Robert was a survival-nut, since his own dad had taken him on plenty of camping trips and even hardcore survival tours all the time. But that was really pushing it, considering he must’ve started with no tools or rations, and probably faced similar odds as him.

W: Dude. What.

W: That would be, like, ten or twelve hours? How did you make it that long?

R: it was a wild ride ngl

R: started in an area with loads of pines and cliffs

R: had to run from a bunch of rabid foxes at first

R: lost them in some mountain stream where I almost froze my nuts off

R: water was drinkable or at least I thought it was

R: found some wild berries that I figured were edible cuz they looked like blackberries

R: after that I had to avoid a bunch of wild animals

R: loads of mooses and other big fellas that were way too aggressive

R: after I found a secluded hole in the cliffs I started scavenging for firewood and such

W: Moose.

R: yeah a whole bunch of them

R: scary af

W: The correct plural of moose is moose.

R: oh sue me

William snorted as he fell backwards onto his bed, bouncing on top of the comfortable mattress for a moment. His shirt already damp with sweat was a clear indicator that he had been outside for too long - if you could call twenty minutes in moderately warm weather that - and that he should be taking a shower before his next play session.

R: wasnt easy to get it all going but I managed an elevated platform to sleep on

R: protected from wind and weather

R: and a decent fire with surprisingly little smoke

R: wood must’ve been bone dry

W: And that’s when something ambushed you?

R: yeah didnt even see it coming

R: heard some rustling behind me

R: felt some pain in my neck

R: and boom game over

R: I was so god damned pissed

W: Wow, your survival trip was way more epic than my experience.

R: rly? how long did you make it?

W: Ten minutes, tops. Pretty much everything went wrong and I made even worse decisions.

R: what how

W: Ran from a bear, hid in a bush then got gored by a herd of stampeding boars. Absolutely terrifying to the very last second.

R: ouch

R: rly sorry to hear it mate

R: musta been in a real dump for your stats then

Gritting his teeth, William almost felt like not responding to it for now, but decided against that kind of childish reaction - or at least kind of.

W: Don’t remind me, I was kicking myself over not trying harder. Even the very first one, with the boulder, went completely wrong. I actually tripped and got squashed.

R: thats rough buddy

R: but look at it this way

R: theres very little chance of that happening again anytime soon

R: and by then you will be prepared

W: Yeah, I’m gonna go all Indiana Jones on the next boulder that tries to squish me.

Robert's immediate reaction to that were a bunch of laughing emotions, and William couldn’t help a wry smile. That wasn’t even particularly funny, but Robert had always been a kind of “cheerleader” for others this way.

W: Anyways, how are you even messaging me right now? Weren’t you in a pod?

R: ye

R: but I can jump in and out whenever I want

R: cuz I got it delivered to my flat and all

R: my boss would never let me sit around in one for months on end

R: chelsea is sooo lucky man

W: I don’t know.. being confined to one of those facilities sounds boring.

R: I guess

R: but why would you ever logout

R: they take care of everything and monitor you

R: you would never have to leave again

R: and just use the chat function to communicate with the real world

William knew all that, but had tried to forget. Not only did Chelsea win one of these extremely expensive DIVE pods and a corresponding membership to play the game, she was also allowed to play under supervision and care of a specialized medical team. Apparently, they intend to study the effects of long-term exposure to Eternium, and Chelsea had been invited to the program. Needless to say, she had accepted without another thought.

No, he wasn’t jealous. Not at all. Nuh-uh. Never.

R: speaking of chelsea

R: have you heard anything from her

W: Nope, not a peep. And I have no idea how to contact her, all the sources say the pod users have to initiate the communication due to some technical issues.

R: well damn

R: looks like we gotta find her ingame then

R: wanna party up and look around some?

W: Have you been in the actual world yet? The starting city is massive, and it’s currently night time in the game. Plus, we don’t even know her ingame name. There’s no way we would find her right now.

R: srsly?

R: did you just decline an invite to play games

R: who are you and what did you do to billy lmao

William could only chuckle at that and shake his head. Of course he would try to bait him, but he wouldn’t give Robert the pleasure of grinding him down like that.

W: That was only a ‘no’ for the part about searching for Chelsea. You bet your hairy backside we’re gonna do some late-night exploration.

R: atta boy billy

R: tho imma grab a bite first

R: or probably even more than that

R: eight hours without food or water is ass

W: Been there too. But you’ll have to wait until I had dinner, mom wants me there. You know how she is.

R: besides extremely loving and caring? ofc

R: just throw me a message

R: gonna get down and dirty with this absolute beauty here ;)

The last message was followed up by a picture of what could only be described as an absolute unit of a pizza that was topped with just about everything a meat-lover like Robert would crave, with his own smiling face right next to it, giving a thumbs-up. Roberts chestnut-brown hair was neatly trimmed down, while his exceptionally well-groomed beard made up for the lack of it. And even though only parts of him could be seen, one could already imagine what a hulking man was behind the camera. In comparison, the can of diet coke next to it seemed comically small.

W: Nah, I’d rather get some of the juicy pork roast that’s been making the house smell absolutely divine for the last hour.

R: oooohhh lucky you

R: havent had one of those in ages

R: you win for sure

W: It’s not a competition.

R: not with that attitude ahaha

R: anyways

R: greet your parents for me

R: and eat your veggies!

W: I will, to both of that.

R: aight cya

And with that, the tiny icon indicating Roberts online status switched from green to red, telling everyone to not disturb him. Not like that kind of warning ever works against people who actually want something from you. But at least you can tell them off for it. Noting that it was at least another thirty minutes until dinner was ready, William decided that now was the opportune moment for a shower and a change of clothes. What little sweat he had worked up from going outside was enough to make him not want to smell anymore, even more so because his mother would probably complain about it.

Once William was in the shower and letting the hot water wash over him, his thoughts quickly returned to the virtual reality that he already missed dearly. Even though it was normal for new games to occupy his mind for the first two or three weeks, William hadn't felt such a longing and yearning in a very long time - not even his most dearest experiences with games came close to this feeling. And although he was well aware that videogames could be addicting, he had never felt such a pull before. But was it really so wrong to use every possible moment he could spare to experience this one-of-a-kind world?

Even now, new players would be entering the game and having their own experiences, just like he did. Probably under completely different circumstances as well, considering that it would be the middle of the night in Eternium. Who knows what kind of NPCs were only awake and active during the night? It might be the time of thieves and assassins, as was customary in fantasy worlds. Or perhaps the world was just soundly asleep, leaving the stragglers to their own devices.

Ugh! Just thinking about it made him want to log back in already. Was this how drug addicts felt when they needed another hit?

With a deep sigh, William ended his time in the world's best meditation chamber, also known as the shower. Quickly drying off and putting on fresh clothes, he soon found himself indulging in the succulent sensations of a perfectly cooked pork roast with home fries and steamed string beans. All three together formed the ultimate comfort food that his mind had imprinted on with an all-is-good-and-happy-feeling, although the same could be said about anything the matrons of his family could whip up.

Not just to appease his mother, but also because he was just that hungry, William was on his second portion and just about done with it when his phone buzzed, and the message preview showed that Robert was ready. His mother had noted that as well with a side glance and gave him a knowing grin.

"Perfect timing, hm? Don't let us keep you then, I'm sure you and Robert are already raring to go."

"Don't you need help with the dishes? Robert can wait a bit longer.."

"No, no. I can tell your mind was anywhere else but here. This isn't the first time you had a shiny new toy", his mother chuckled and throw a glance over at his father, who was also lost in his own thoughts. "And I know exactly where you got that from as well."

William couldn't help but laugh at that when his father finally noticed both of them looking at him.

"Hmm? Is there something on my face?", the perplexed and innocent question came from him.

"All good, old man. You've just been conscripted for doing the dishes today." Wiping off his chin with a napkin, William stood up from the table and patted his belly with a satisfied groan. "There you go, mom - more than just one good meal in my scrawny body now", he added with a smirk, but his mother took it in stride.

"And for being such a good boy and eating your whole plate, you're allowed to play with your friends. Now shoo!"

Still with a grin on his face, William turned around on the spot and rushed upstairs again. A quick message told Robert to go ahead and login already, as well as giving him instructions where Robert would be able to find him, as William was already getting comfortable on his bed. With a short glance directed at his alarm clock, he noted that it was almost half past seven. And if he wasn't entirely mistaken, the ingame time should be somewhere around three or four in the morning.

Time for some serious late-night adventures!