I was worn out and tired as the light of dawn came up. It was a serious amount of labor, even with Kimmy, to bring things up into the cavern I found. Kimmy looked surprised to find the Cavern and looked dark while looking around. There were things that I would have to do to keep Kimmy in control, like make a latrine, but that could come later. There was potential fresh drinking water and a place to stay covered and hidden from the outside elements.

Kimmy wearing the slave capture collar allowed me to finally set things up so I could take a break and feed my real body as things were starting to get bad for my SleepyWonder character. Much like in real life, I was yawning involuntarily, and my vision was getting a little fuzzy on the edges, simulating real tiredness while working on gathering things. So, instead of getting really gritty about it, I chained up Kimmy in the corner, ensuring she could not get away while I slept and hit the sack. If something happened, then I wouldn't even be able to do something about it at this point.

My ability to make traps was compromised as my hands started to shake with exhaustion. The place was well hidden, and we were finished before dark. Moving everything in the dark was a pain in the ass, but we finished before the light started to hit the crack. All the signs of the previous occupants of the valley were more or less gone, with the exception of some bloodstains. The lights that were in the cave where I ambushed the sniper were now in the cavern, and the base camp was all just boxes and things that needed to be sorted.

For better or worse, I would have to sleep with Kimmy tied up and unable to move or speak in the corner, unable to move an inch. I really didn't want her yelling in case someone came by to look around. Finally, I set her on a mat from their camp and roped up in a way that would make a masochist blush with desire, and I hit the sack.

Logging out after such a long day made my body ache. I had been in the pod for longer than was normal, and I stretched my limbs, feeling a little sore from inactivity. I got up and out, beginning to stretch to ensure I was feeling a little better. I let the pod go at two times the speed because I wanted four hours of rest for my character. I didn't want to get the character in a nighttime mode because it was so much harder to work at night.

Leaving my bedroom as I continued to stretch my limbs, I decided I would spend some time on the forums to see what they said after I got some food going. I quickly walked into the kitchen, put some frozen food out, and turned on the oven. I didn't need a good meal, but I needed something substantial in order to get back to it for the rest of the day. I was a little worn out from that last day and a half almost in the game.

Holy shit, was it much harder to be in the forest. This game was so realistic in ways where you had to fight and battle. The critical hits could instantly kill, and without someone to rely on while you were sleeping, you had to hide and hide well. The best I could have done was set up traps if I was out in the forest and sleeping on a limb of one of those massive trees, which reminded me that there should be something to help out with climbing trees.

In fact, I think I need to look up things for sneaky assholes like I want to be to bring with you when going solo in various environments. At this point, I was completely out of my depth in the forest because I lacked knowledge. Thermal scope, or something that could change between various modes, was something I was desperate to purchase when I finished my venture into this forest.

Night vision? Thermal?

Both would be amazing to have and make me much more suited to sleep during the day and fight at night. This would make me the hunter and much more useful than relying on normal vision. As I currently stood, I needed something to increase my firing range and to produce doubt. My combat style was more suited to those old stealth games that were popular when I was younger than this game.

Sneaking around by yourself instead of facing many opponents head-on was much better. But I could see the limits already with around ten or so people. Combat happens fast unless both are in equal circumstances, and I must never allow that. No matter how cheap or dirty I have to play, I must never allow that.

My mind was running rampant when I heard the oven beep, telling me it had heated up, and I stuffed the frozen foods I had prepared on a cookie sheet into the oven. I walked over to my computer, turning it on, and I stretched my back out a little, and looked down as I waited. My breasts were in my face, and I started to rock them a little without much thought. I mindlessly bounced them a little when I heard my computer finish logging in, and I opened up the browser and turned on an old forum that pros had set up.

The site had finally opened up a forum tab for Galaxy Online, and I was excited. I logged into my account, and my friends list started to ping me as old pro friends noticed I was online. I smiled as I set a timer on my phone and clicked on the new link with pros coming out with some of their takes on the game.

I quickly found a link to something I was thinking about recently, too.

—-

Do you guys notice how realistic the game is to the real world?

PizzaHunter- Hey, Have you guys noticed how realistic this game is? I have been crawling in boot camp for hours to become a damn service member in the military, and I know I am not alone. It feels like the local government is trying to militarize me!

Poopinsoup - Yeah, I have damn well noticed. I got brained when hunting my target in my first tutorial playthrough. The freak shot went through a damn hole in the wall I didn't notice when diving for cover.

Linksbelow - Yeah, Headshots are instant death for most creatures in the game. Same with getting hit in the heart. It's different depending on animals, though. It has been unreal dealing with all the things they teach if you are an actual hunter.

Firewalker - The mage academies are theory hell! You don't want to know!

—-

The complaining was real, and most of it was nonsense. I couldn't help but laugh at Poopinsoup's plight about getting brained. It was a problem that even I had to deal with, but God, was I thankful I haven't had to deal with it personally.

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I started looking for more useful information on the site as this was for the pros. I quickly found a forum post about learning new builds for our characters, and I was instantly interested.

—-

Brainstorming Builds

QueenSniper - Hey guys, so I thought I would start brainstorming ideas. As a sniper, as I know many of you are, I was thinking about the best way to build. Right now, though, I am in a military boot camp and cannot get out, and I think we should all be prepared once we are out of the military training.

SniperWatch - I noticed that there is an Elite training camp in my Military camp! Your accuracy has to be insane, but if you hit with 95% accuracy while following orders in the Sniper training camp, you can get scripted!

—

I sighed, reading down the forum, and realized it was just a place for snipers to chat. It's not nearly as useful as I thought it would be. Instead, I turned to my DMs and noticed a friend I had not talked to in a while. I hit up the chat function, and my phone went off, telling me my food was ready. I got up, walked over to my oven quickly, retrieved my food, turned off the oven, and returned to my computer after grabbing some sauce for the plain frozen food I got.

I sat back and smiled, starting to read the chat.

—

KingSlayer1337 - SSSSLLLLEEEEPPPPYYY DAMN WONDER! You finally logged back on! Are you browsing the Galaxy Online forum too?

—

I couldn't help but reply, and we started to chat as I ate.

—--

SleepyWonder - King Slayer, how are you doing? Ever hook up with Sarah?

KingSlayer1337- Don’t bring up something like that! I am Married now! A beautiful Thai woman named Lamai is my life's love. She is so much better than Sarah, and I would never give her up. Now to real business, Sleepy! Are you playing again?

SleepyWonder - Who isn’t? Also, you didn't invite me to the wedding?

KingSlayer1337- SleepyWonder, You're kidding right?

SleepyWonder - lol, Of course.

KingSlayer1337- I never know with you!

SleepyWonder - Then assume I am being serious! Where the fuck was my invitation! I wanted to have free food!

KingSlayer1337- HAHAHA! No, it was just My wife and I, plus close family. Don't be mad.

SleepyWonder - That's okay, As long as I ask QueenButtercup if she got an invitation she wasn't invited to.

KingSlayer1337- ….

SleepyWonder - So I was the only one…

KingSlayer1337- I didn't invite Pickles.

SleepyWonder - What did you want to know?

KingSlayer1337- Well, I wanted to know what you are up to and if things are going good for you. A lot of pros are struggling with this Ironman mode.

SleepyWonder - I was one of those people who stretched the contract before the update. I am playing the hard mode, it seems.

KingSlayer1337- Holy shit. I hear that the wider universe is unforgiving. How are you doing?

SleepyWonder - For now, I have some things going really well for me. I think the Tutorial is a mindset restarter.

KingSlayer1337- What do you mean?

SleepyWonder - I mean that you have to think differently. The main game does allow you to respawn, I hear. But the Tutorial doesn't. Think about the difficulty people are reporting in the main universe. If it is that hard when you can respawn…

KingSlayer1337- Are you saying that you have to learn to think of the world like real life?

SleepyWonder - Not quite; I gave you enough of a hint. Now you owe me information for such a large tip!

KingSlayer1337- ….

SleepyWonder - Well? I want something juicy as I think I gave you really valuable information. Plus you didn't invite me to your wedding. I thought we were close once!

KingSlayer1337- You are still the same.

SleepyWonder - Yup! Spill the beans!

KingSlayer1337- Fine; I am sure that you have gotten offers recently, right?

SleepyWonder - I got one that I thought was tempting. I declined it because my sleeping is still profitable.

KingSlayer1337- Well, I heard from a little bird that Gabin Corp has something massive coming out to incentivize companies for the Esports part. I would hold off on contracts in the short term.

SleepyWonder - Interesting. I was thinking the same, and I have a really good thing going for me. I am going to complete my Tutorial before I make any big moves. No one in the Main universe is currently doing good anyway.

KingSlayer1337- All the clubs are back in the Tutorial, too. You are following the mainstream, like me on that.

SleepyWonder - Damn, the Main universe is that hard?

KingSlayer1337- I heard it is hard to leave planets when you break that contract. It is like playing the game in hell mode with both your legs cut off. No one takes your character seriously, and you cannot get a job with anyone other than Pirates or Criminals. Not many people made it far, and with the One-to-one time frame that isn't in the tutorial…

SleepyWonder - So, results are slow. Well, it was nice touching base, but I am in the middle of a forest in the game. I cannot stay out of the pod for too long. Nice touching base.

KingSlayer1337- Don't be a stranger. People exchange information on the platform, but the more interesting information is shared privately. Talk to your contacts. People are farming content and information to sell. I know you know more people than me.

SleepyWonder - Thanks! I guess I will toss you a scrap of info in the future for letting me know. See ya!

—

I logged out of our chat and thought about what was said. That was important information, and Kingslayer1337 was a guy named Matthew in real life. We were good friends in the pro world, although we were never on the same team. It was nice touching base with him, and it was nice to hear that he got married.

Putting aside my empty plate, I processed the information about Gabin Corporation coming out with something that would make corporations go wild. That meant having an amazing start like I was having with Ura, Emily, and Nyava would be important. I needed to get this playthrough of the Tutorial right the first time, and I turned to look at my clock. It had been an hour and a half, and I wanted my character to have four hours of sleep.

I got to work, and I started looking up various traps I could use to be well hidden and Started to read for the last half hour. I didn't have much time, and when the alarm went off, I got up, walked back to the pod, and logged back in. I was determined to live through this forest and become stronger.