Opening his eyes, Elijah took his gaming helmet off his head with a smile on his face. He spent three more hours in the game at night. He became familiar with the different tasks the villagers did and he got a chance to interact with other players.

Elijah smiled because he remembered how much the other players praised him for his accomplishments. They asked him for tips and if he could let them in on any secrets. Elijah said he would try to look out for them, but he couldn’t promise them anything.

The other people freed from the goblins were characters in the game. They were able to confirm that ten of the freed people came from two different villages. The rest of the people were in a traumatized state and didn’t respond to any of the questioning.

The ten people said they were taken from nearby their villages, and they didn’t know if the goblins attacked their homes. Elijah said he would do his best to help them get home once they were sure the goblins weren’t a threat, but he didn’t make any promises. Their village might be destroyed when they found it and there was no guarantee they would be able to find it. After all, Elder Jeb and the others said they had searched their surroundings and didn’t see any signs of other people nearby.

As Elijah thought about the game, he got out of his bed, stood up, and promptly fell onto the floor. Elijah let out a groan of pain as he laid on the floor. His body felt weak, and his mind struggled to make his body do what he wanted it to do.

What Elijah was experiencing was the aftereffects of playing Fallen Heaven for too long. According to his future self, it was common for people to suffer from severe exhaustion and fatigue in the future. However, it only happened after people stayed in the game for more than twenty-four hours. Elijah only played for eight hours and yet he was experiencing the aftereffects.

Laying on the ground, Elijah took a few deep breaths before he tried to get up again. He did his best to control his body as he slowly got back on to the bed. Once he was seated, Elijah closed his eyes and took a few minutes to get adjusted.

Slowly, Elijah gained better control of his body. He gently got back on to his feet and slowly walked around his room. Eventually Elijah could move his body without any awkwardness or discomfort. It was truly a strange experience, but Elijah had a good guess as to why it happened.

It was his cultivation technique. Elijah knew that all cultivation techniques had the protentional to strengthen a player’s mind and body in real life. His weakness most likely stemmed from the fact that his cultivation technique was a higher level than other techniques. He practiced his cultivation technique to much in the game and his mind and body suffered from over stimulation. It was similar to someone suffering from over working their body when they were exercising and struggling to move the next day.

“If I want to avoid feeling weak then I have to strengthen my mind and body in real life.” Elijah said out loud.

Elijah’s next step was obvious. It was time for him to cultivate in real life. The idea of improving his body to the level of a superhuman was exciting. He was so excited that he struggled to stay in one place. It took Elijah a long time to calm down, but he was eventually able to enter the meditative state he easily achieved in the game. However, just as he raised his hand into the air, he heard a knock on the door.

“Yo bro, you up. I need to talk to you.”

Instantly, Elijah felt annoyed. He worked so hard to get into the proper mental state and his brother came to interrupt him. Elijah stomped his way to his bedroom door and opened it with an annoyed expression on his face.

“Can it wait? I’m a little busy right now.”

Elijah’s brother’s name was Everton and they both looked very similar. However, Everton was slightly taller, and he was more muscular than Zane. In terms of aura, Everton’s aura was stern, serious and rigid. Elijah was the opposite

Everton frowned before he answered Elijah. “What are you busy doing? Playing video games? There’s more to life than video games.” Elijah released an audible groan. “Look I know you like playing video games and there’s nothing wrong with that. But you can’t play them for the rest of your life. You need to go outside, see the world, and make friends. Real friends, not just people you talk to online. Do you think those people you know online will show up when-”

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“Enough! Can you just not? For once, can you just not give me a damn lecture? I’m not a fucking child.”

Normally, Elijah would quietly sit back and let Everton lecture him on all the things he wasn’t doing right. But the Elijah of the past was completely different from the Elijah of the present. Everton was shocked when Elijah interrupted him, but he wasn’t speechless.

“I’ll stop treating you like a child when you grow up.”

The two brothers glared at each other. Elijah was filled with annoyance and his brother was filled with frustration. Neither of them wanted to back down and were prepared to do whatever it took to get the other to submit.

Growl!

After a brief period of silence Everton spoke. “I brought some food on my way home. We can continue talking when you come downstairs.”

Elijah said he will be down shortly and closed his door. He wanted to think about how he recently reacted to his brother. The words he said were words he always thought about saying to his brother, but he never dared to do so. But today that changed.

Elijah realized his behavior and mindset had gone through some changes. These changes could have started when he got the memories of his future self or when he started playing the game. Elijah wasn’t able to figure out when the change started no matter how hard he thought. He wanted to continue pondering the situation, but his stomach wouldn’t let him. Shaking his head Elijah headed downstairs to feed the beast.

The moment Elijah smelt the food his brother brought, he turned into a ravenous beast. Elijah didn’t eat his food, he inhaled it. He did his best to get the food into his stomach so he could quickly give his body the energy it desperately needed. Once Elijah was done with the meal his brother gave him, he began warming up a meal that he prepared earlier.

As Elijah began eating his second meal, he began to rethink his decision to cultivate in the real world. In his eagerness he didn’t stop to think about how cultivation would affect his body. It would definitely make him stronger, but it would drain him of energy as well.

Elijah didn’t know how much stamina and mental energy he currently had. If Everton hadn’t interrupted him, it is very likely that he would have passed out before he could complete one cultivation session. Elijah decided he would postpone his cultivation in the real world for a few days. At the very least, he wanted to wait until he didn’t wake up exhausted from cultivating in the game.

“Elijah, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Elijah put down his fork and gave his older brother his full attention. Now that he refueled, Elijah realized what day it was. Today was the day his brother came back home to ask him to join the military academy.

“I think you should seriously consider joining the military academy.” Elijah opened his mouth to respond, but Everton immediately interrupted him. “Eli! Please, just listen first. Okay.” Nodding his head Elijah didn’t speak and listened to what Everton had to say. “I know you always disliked the military, but the military isn’t as bad as you think it is. At the academy you will have a ton of room for development. You can make friends, contribute to society and-”

Blah, blah, blah. Slowly Elijah began to tune his brother out. It’s not that he didn’t care about what his brother was saying. However, Elijah was already prepared to say yes to joining the military academy.

As Fallen Heaven becomes more popular it would gain the attention of the government. The military academy would soon encourage their students to play Fallen Heaven and set aside time for them to do so. Also, the academy would provide special food full of nutrients and training equipment to help people develop their bodies.

Without the information from his future self, Elijah would resist joining the military using any means possible. Everton would have to drag him to the military academy kicking and screaming. Elijah still disliked the military, but he wouldn’t let that dislike get in the way of his future. If the military was the best place for him to cultivate in the short term, then he would definitely join them.

“Are you even listening to me?” Everton shouted waking Elijah from his thoughts.

“Honestly, no, I wasn’t.” Seeing Everton was pissed off Elijah quickly continued speaking. “Calm down, I’m willing to go to the academy.

“What?” Elijah smirked when he saw the stunned expression on his brother’s face.

“Yes, I’m willing to go to the military academy. No, this isn’t a prank I’m actually going. Yes, I know this is serious and I am fully committed to joining up.”

Elijah preemptively answered all the questions he knew his brother would ask. His future self left him these answers, so he could enjoy the dumbfounded expression on his brother’s face. It was very entertaining.

“Well, that’s good then.” Everton struggled to come up with those few words after Elijah was finished speaking.

“Good then I’ll guess I’ll sign up for the military academy now. Unless you already did that for me.” Elijah burst into laughter when he saw his brother choke on the juice he was drinking.