*click* *creak* *bam* "Finally... Finally I'm back home... I could seriously use a can of beer or something, especially after spending fifteen minutes trying to separate those two morons." Soren commented tiredly, as he slowly let his body fall down to rest in peace and quiet, before the noise of the doorbell forced him to get up and open the door and allow Lucas and Nora to enter the apartment.

"Good evening you two. Did you two just arrive?"

"Yup. We figured you would have returned by eight, so we came at eight and a half. So, how come you look like you're about to keel over from exhaustion?" Nora explained calmly, as she looked at Soren's tired body.

"That's because I am actually about to keel over and fall asleep for a good day and a half... So... *groan* When are we starting? I'd like to get this over with ASAP, so I can actually rest."

"Relax there hombre. I know you want to get this quickly over with, trust me I do, but I suggest to rest for a little while, since you'll be playing on different realism states and I want your mind and body to be as well rested as possible, since I'll be needing the feedback data from your different states and I'd like to avoid any complications from physical performance issues, due to a lack of energy."

"I'll be fine Lucas. This ain't my first rodeo in this kind of state, so I'll be able to pull through finely enough. Just pass me the helmet so I can get started." Soren then grabbed the helmet and wore it immediately, before laying on the couch and entering the game immediately.

*sigh* "No need to be to prickly about it..." Lucas casually commented, as he connected his usual devices on the back of the helmet.

...

'Back into the game once more... I wonder if I'd be able to take a nap here.' Soren thought to himself, as he scanned the surroundings of the settlement and waited for Lucas to respond. While doing so, he decided to swiftly take the Vermin hunt quest and slowly did the rounds in the settlement, while killing every Lone Vermin front of him, which was even easier than before, thanks to the increased stats.

"Hello? Soren, can you hear me loud and clear?" Lucas's voice echoed in Soren's head, as he finished his third vermin, before he responded back. "Crystal clear boss. I'm currently hunting for my stew tonight."

"Stew? What stew? We haven't even implemented the hunger mechanics yet." Lucas stated incredulously, before realizing that Soren was joking with him.

"Please don't actually implement that, I'm here to play an RPG, not a survival game. Anyways, what's the work for today?"

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*sigh* "The work for today is that you'll be playing on different realism settings and through that, we'll be collecting data on your body's physical and mental reactions, as well as your own personal feedback. We're aiming for around one hour worth of tests for now and we'll start with the 40% realism setting, as kind of a base line for your reactions."

"Got it. Speaking of which, how will we be changing the realism setting? Am I going to do that in-game or will you mess with the realism dial?"

"You'll be the one to change that later. For now, just go and do some quests and I'll give you the signal for the change. Have fun Soren." Once Lucas finished, Soren then continued his hunt uninhibited, up until he had hunted seven rats, when he was forced to stop, since he had hunted all of the rats in the settlement for the day. After claiming the reward of 21 copper coins and his health potion, he grabbed both the rabbit and squire hunt quests and rather than just hunting them this time around, he decided to focus more on obtaining materials for potions and would turn in his quests at the end of his grinding session, once he was completely done with the tests.

"Alright... The Alchemist Manny said that collection spots were just about everywhere, but how do I even know what a collection spot looks like?" Soren muttered to himself, as he was walking around the outskirts of the settlement, before coming across a rabbit and swiftly dispatching it. As he slowly walked deeper and deeper into the forest, he started dealing with more frequent attacks from both rabbits and squires and before long, an entire hour passed and he had to stop his hunt prematurely, since Lucas notified him about the change on the realism setting.

"Now Soren, since we'll be dealing with changes on the realism setting, I'll be warning you that you may be dealing with a bit of information overload from the sudden increase, but it will quickly subside, since your mind will be able to quickly adjust to the higher realism setting." Lucas warned in a serious manner, as he had his eyes on Soren's vital signs.

"Got it. So, how much should I raise the realism setting?" Soren asked, as he had the settings panel opened in front of him.

"Raise it to 60%. That's the game's safe upper limit." Lucas requested calmly, now fully focused on Soren's vital signs, while Soren changed the in-game realism setting from 40% to 60% and once he pressed the confirmation button, a sudden chill assaulted his body, as if the temperature around him had suddenly dropped over 10°C and felt like he had to wear a jacket immediately, otherwise he would catch a cold.

"Why is it suddenly so cold Lucas!? I know it's a forest, but why does it feel like I'm the tundra all of a s-sudden?" Soren asked, as he rubbed his body desperately to heat himself up.

"Hm... I believe it should it early in the morning, if we go by the game's internal clock. For your information as well, the time in the game is the complete opposite of our time, so if our time is 9:30 in the evening, for the game, it's the same time, but in the morning."

"Oh... N-Now it makes a bit more sense. No w-wonder my body felt like being h-hit with a winter breeze after a hot sho-WAH!. Don't you f*cking interrupt me, you damned rodent." Soren yelled out at the dead rabbit he just killed, after it nearly sneaked up behind him.

"Man up a bit. It's just the chilly weather, not the actual Arctic tundra. So, how did you feel killing that rabbit? Any difference than before?" Lucas stated, as he asked with a curious tone.

"Any difference? Hmm... I guess the rabbit felt a bit firmer than before? There was a slight resistance when I cut it down, but not enough to... stop me... God, this feels so weird." Soren stated in an awkward manner, as he held the bleeding carcass of the rabbit and could feel its soft fur, mixed with the slight stickiness of the blood, before putting the rabbit into his inventory and wiping his hand on his shirt.

"I see... For now, just stick to the usual hunt and don't die. You're currently deep enough into the forest to encounter stronger variants now."

"Stronger variants? You mean Elite or Mini-Boss monsters!?" Soren asked excitedly, as this meant a chance for him to obtain greater rewards.

"I guess, but-"

"How harder are they than the normal monster!?"

"Not much harder than the normal monsters, but-"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's f*cking go!" Soren yelled out joyfully, as he completely ignored Lucas's words and ran deeper into the forest, in pursuit of greater rewards.