"Okay, no more of that please, please!"

Roy said his desire aloud, but that didn't mean it would come true. He knew himself better than that. Come next homework assignment, he'd forget until the last minute, having wasted the rest of the previous day's afternoon procrastinating. With some video game.

He cleared his desk of the ripped-out pieces of notebook paper used to write out chemistry formulas and calculations. They were the leftovers, the scratches of pencil lead that served no purpose other than to get from the questions' information to the answers they demanded.

He continued to wait for the online assignment system to process and confirm what he entered. “Why do I do this to myself…?” he muttered. It was the last question he waited on. Within another second a green check mark popped up next to his answer, to his relief.

"YES!" He had made a few too many mistakes on the previous questions, which threatened to drop his maximum points equivalent to less than a B-. Sure, homework was only 10% of his total grade by the end of the semester, but each percentage point helped to keep him away from C.

That was just too much. I know it's Fundamentals 2 which should be easier than 1, but I’m still struggling.

Of the sciences, chemistry was his worst. Not that his other grades were much better. He didn't try as much as he should, that was his problem. He was also far too occupied with his own freedom, being away at college without his parents nagging him about his hobbies, or asking we he doesn't read more books.

Roy looked at the time on his laptop. It read 10:30 PM, 30 minutes before the deadline.

Well, I still have another few hours before I go to bed. I know just what to spend them on.

He packed up his laptop and controller into his backpack and carried them to the common area of his floor. It was an okay space. Not super modern but it was clean enough that he wasn't concerned much about it unless someone was cooking. What he actually used the space for was not cooking or meeting up with people on his floor, but to use the television that hung up in the corner of the ceiling, in front of the couches and chairs.

He rearranged the furniture to better fit the Feng Shui he was going for. He dragged one of the tables close to the wall by the outlet so he could connect his laptop to power, then his controller to the laptop. It was an odd setup at times, having a computer that wasn't intended to play PC games, and a controller that didn't belong to either of the two consoles he owned at home. Regardless he connected the appropriate cables to their ports. For the time being, until he was able to acquire a more powerful computer, this was his preferred way of doing things.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

He clicked on the game’s icon on the desktop screen and a moment later the laptop whirred in response. The fans turned on and whirred, to dissipate the heat produced from the amount of energy it took to run the game.

A game window popped up at the center of his screen, which showed an illustration related to the game, with the stylized name of it across the top of the image. It read Radiance of Etheria. Roy was excited to resume this game. It was released almost a year ago, but he didn't pay much attention to it until a friend recommended he try it out. After looking at online reviews and watching trailers for the game without spoiling too much of the story, he decided to give it a go.

His initial hesitance to play was because of Radiance of Etheria being an online MMORPG. He played a few normal RPGs here and there, but none that had much interaction with other people. Quickly though, he found that he really enjoyed the story, and the player interaction that it required wasn't overwhelming; most of the game he could play himself, without needing to to rely on a complete stranger.

Up to this point he accumulated over three hours of game time and raised his character's level to 15. He started out as a level 1 Rookie. Upon reaching level 10 the game notified him of a new class upgrade. The game provided him with several options, but chose the classic, if a bit boring class of Swordsman. It was basic for its mechanical skill, but he had to give it to the developers, for the animations were certainly flashy. He also considered the mage, because of the variety of spells they could cast, but he liked the more active-seeming role a melee DPS class had. They also had an easier time with skills and abilities, since the mage class required his character to stay in the same spot on the map, otherwise the current action would cancel.

A lot of his decision-making process was informed by his friend Jeff, the one who recommended the game to him. Without him, he probably would have picked mage and felt the need to start all over again with a class he was satisfied with.

Roy played his game, defeating and looting creatures and people as part of the main story quests. In the process, he gained three more levels and a new skill and ability. He stopped playing for the night when he reached the entrance of his first proper dungeon. He cleared a mini-dungeon with an appropriately leveled mini-boss at level 12 solo, but Jeff had told him to wait at the first dungeon until they could party up to tackle it together.

After packing his things and returning back to his dorm room, a double, though his roommate was out partying, he promptly got himself ready for bed and slept.

Before he fell completely asleep he thought to himself, “I'm so glad I don't have to wake up for work until ten."