Thinking out of breath is hard, yet here's a genius idea.

If the character feels exhausted, why not make a bed for him? It's night anyway, and the backpack has the bedroll from the bandit camp. Whether it's smart to set up camp in the middle of the forest only time will tell, but it's worth a shot.

It's enough to grab the item from the inventory and there goes the sleep sack, laid out nice and flat on the ground. Do I have to take the backpack off or it doesn't matter? If taken off, would my whole inventory move with it, or only the container itself?

There was that big backpack that gave the highest bonus for weight capacity, that must have done that. The one that went on the quick-access slots and had to ditch it because we, free players only have three of those.

Are there other free users in CineMraft or am I the only poor kid here? Well, fine. The ten credits on that beginner discount for a month's subscription isn't even that crazy. The feds would have financed it, though they should have told me what it was for.

It's too late now, half of it already went up in smoke, and the rest is waiting for me to light them too. When was the last cigarette break? Focus, Arnim, you made a bed, remember? Let's keep the backpack on for now, and see if it gets in the way later.

[Status effect: Resting +100% Regeneration speed.]

What is this new modifier? My back only touches the fabric, and it's already there, comparable with the effect from the food. That one's still active for three minutes, and the two buffs might recharge me before it expires.

[Status effect: Recovery (food) +100% Regeneration Speed 2:55]

Taking this thing and trying it out was an excellent idea. And the inventory wasn't in the way either. If the equipment is invisible, it won't block the movement either. Selena mentioned a skill that reveals other players' hidden inventory though. How would that work?

Wait, was it Selena or Tank? Either way, they must know about the system's meta stuff if they mention a skill. How did this slip under the radar? And why is my brain all over the place? No, that's nothing new, but I'm feeling sleepy out of the blue.

Does the game want to put me out? The tutorial said something about simulating dreams, but that's for Premium users only. The character must rest five hours a day, which tends to happen while the player logs off, so what if I fall asleep now?

No, let's try not to, not outside the village at least. Focus, what were those status effects about? When the same buff showed up before, I thought it meant healing, yet it affected my energy levels the same way.

Does it mean the green healing potion recharges the stamina too? Then what does the yellow one do, other than taste like coffee? Too bad they ran out, it would make an interesting experiment to try one with a full backpack.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Think about it: if it lasts five minutes without recharging my energy, it's more like a steroid than a potion. A drug to keep you going, huh? Does it mean that in cases like this, - running with a full backpack, - the character wouldn't have to stop?

It lasts five minutes, and I run out of breath in two. It should have been already suspicious when using that heavy bow. It was so difficult to use, a few shots tired me out, and then I drank that potion and it was all fine.

The endurance bar creeps up fast, while the minimap's counter still shows zero. Another thing I forgot to test is to see how much stamina that bow uses per shot. I went for the hauling run instead and also ran out of breath.

Idling around recharges one stamina per minute, at least it did when my inventory wasn't full like now. The character gets a fifty percent bonus when he sits, and the bedroll gives this visible buff. With the food, the energy should be back in no time.

Good, the exhaustion debuff disappears after the first minute. If it works like this, that three extra kilos the bedroll weighs might be worth keeping for cases like this. While the game let me run with forty kilos at the same pace as before, it was too tiring.

The recovery bonuses are pretty neat though. What would happen if the tent was standing too? It might protect the player from the elements, but the bedroll is comfortable already. If it takes a few minutes to set it up, it wouldn't be worth it with numbers this low.

The system had me disassemble their pavilions back in the bandit camp which took a few minutes. The sleeping bag was ready to use once I thought about deploying it. With the stacking status effects, I'd recover faster than setting up or dismantling a tent.

And remember that the high-level characters also had low HP. If stamina stays this low too, it makes sense why Wrodditors said leveling up is meaningless. The difference must be in the skills and the player's aptitude.

I can't wait to see how they work after hitting the tenth level. This includes class selection and attributes, and half of my items will unlock too. Most MMOs have this crazy power creep, where a few levels of difference can decide a fight.

In CineMraft, veterans and newbies get the same hitpoints and damage potential. How will that affect the gameplay? It might turn everything into a simple numbers game. Whoever can mobilize the more players wins; it's the end of the story.

It would mean the odds are equal and you don't have to succumb to the pressure of leveling to keep up with the top. It sounds nice on paper, except players can have alt characters and there's a way to log them in all at once.

That might ruin solo play, which would be an issue for me.

There is no fucking way I'd team up with big clans or serve any masters. Sure, it was fun to hunt down the bandits with DragonSlayer. He didn't order me around or try to use me. If anything, it was Selena who used both of us.

If it's more than a one-off thing, people will have expectations and must conform to timetables. That's also how it was with the Boss and look where it ended up. No, never again, not in this game too. The feds forced me to play it, but let's hope they won't force others on me.

From the 'help us out once and I'll buy you some stuff' to 'this is your duty' and getting caught, it was only two years. How long would it be until others tried to take advantage of me in a fast-paced world like this? And how long until... Oh, never mind. The stamina is back up to full.

Putting away the bedroll takes a simple thought, and the character is good to go. This thing is super useful, it will stay in my inventory now, for sure.