She locked on the cuffs and quickly went behind him. Although he smelled strongly of smoke, it seemed she had no problem falling asleep. Tibaut wished the same could be said for him.

Several minutes had passed but nothing had changed. It certainly didn't help that she was breathing against his neck.

As a last resort to calm himself, he began reminiscing about his past world.

"Dammit, what do I think about to get my mind off her!?" Tibaut whispered to himself.

But being so close to a woman on his bed, led him to a past memory.

----------------------------------------

Miguel sat at his monitor, playing what he usually played. A single-player game from three console generations ago. This was from an era where games were starting to learn how not to be annoying and purposely time-wasting experiences but hadn't fully worked out the ways of modern convenience.

He wasn't playing a live service game because he hated what they did to the industry with a passion and he didn't play multiplayer games because he felt they had an intrinsic toxicity to them unless you were playing with friends. And with his sleep schedule inverse of the average human's, that wasn't changing anything time soon.

He had modern games but unless they were revolutionary, he wouldn't touch them until he finished his back catalogue of old games.

His room had some cans, wrappers and clothing on the floor. It was quite light and he had no problems walking around. While it was better than some rooms he had seen in online forums, he wasn't proud of his environment. But at the same time, as long as there wasn't a possibility of cockroaches taking residence in his apartment, he was A-okay with it.

He threw his controller into the wall and slammed his fist into the desk, not sparing his keyboard either.

"Fuck, this boss is bullshit. Why the hell is so tanky? I swear to fucking God, I've spent ten minutes on him and he hasn't even lost half his health."

If he just had the foresight to look up a guide, he would have realised the boss takes 10x damage from a specific weapon in the dungeon but alas the boss felt so manageable the idea never crossed his mind.

He looked to the wall, that was marked by his controller and the shards of plastic around the room that was previously his controller. He held his face in his hands and sighed.

Stolen story; please report.

"Damn, being rich really does make you a lot more careless." He got up from his chair and started picking up the shards and remnants of the controller. He had to get far too many plastic shards in his bare feet to realise that the sooner he picked these up the better.

He picked the main remainder of the controller up and sighed.

"Jeez, how many of these have I gone through with this game alone?"

Three. He had gone through three controllers since he started this game.

As he walked through the house to throw it in the bin, he heard a knock at the door.

"Huh? What's he doing here so late?"

Last he checked it was 11:00 pm but that was some time ago.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe the investors are busting his balls about something." He commented as he made his way.

They continued for a while and didn't stop.

"Hey asshole, are you forgetting I have a doorbell?"

He commented before he opened it to find… not his brother. It was a woman, slightly shorter than him. She had pale skin and jet-black hair. She wore a black hoodie and smelled of cigarette smoke and alcohol.

This shock between expectations and reality stunned him for a moment before he regained his composure.

"(A woman!?) Uh, um, can I-I help you?" He asked as he stuttered. It was obvious he was flustered.

It had been nearly half a decade since he interacted with a woman in any meaningful way and the fact he didn't leave his house certainly did him no favours.

She stared at him for a few moments, obviously sizing him up.

"Uh, can I help you? (Who the hell is this lady!?)"

She stood in silence for a few more seconds before Tibaut decided this was a bit too strange for him.

"(Shit is she drunk? Or is she some kind of beggar?) Uh, I think I have something for you, give me a few minutes."

He was about to close the door but she stopped it with her foot.

"Um?" He looked at her confused before she wasted no time opening back the door.

("What the hell!? I had both my hands on the door, how did she open it so easily? Wait, hold on, am I about to get robbed by this bitch?")

He tried to run past her to the outside but she grabbed him and dragged him inside.

("This is a joke right? I mean look at her she's barely my size, how's she manhandling me?")

She threw him to the floor and had a look around.

"Are you serious you don't recognise me, you little bastard?" She said while standing in front of him.

"Am I supposed to?"

"First of all, did your brother not tell you I was coming here? I swear, that unpleasant bastard better not have done this as a joke."

"My brother? (Bro don't tell me you hired an escort!)"

She tapped him with her boot.

"Don't you dare look at me like that, you bastard. Don't I ring any bells when you look at me?" She asked as she bent over and got closer to his face.

"(Micheal you bastard, who did you send to my apartment!?) Well, I can say I don't know anyone who's a heavy smoker."

"That's the thing that stuck out to you?" She smelt her jacket and seemed to have no problem with it. "Are you saying you've forgotten about Louise?" she asked.

"Louise? Oh... wait a minute, now I'm even more confused." He recognised the name but what would she be doing here?