Tom awoke to the sun shining into his eyes. He was on his bed, where he had logged into the Secverse. He slowly sat up while avoiding any sudden movements, as his head hurt like he was having the worst possible hangover.

After suffering for a solid ten minutes, he was starting to feel somewhat better. He then noticed the time. It was the mid-day of the next day, so he must have slept for over 15 hours, as his first play session couldn't have lasted for more than seven hours. Unless the green energy had tormented him for hours. Which he doubted even if that was what it felt like.

He was quite baffled at how this had happened. "Maybe the gear is not suitable for humans?" Tom thought. As he couldn't figure out anything else that could have caused this. But then Tom realized that his body was in absolutely terrible shape. As his headache dismissed enough. That his body could finally inform him of its other pressing needs. So Tom went to the bathroom. And cooked some noodles to sate his hunger.

"There was the warning on the instructions. To not spend too long in Secverse and to make sure to take care of your body. Maybe I just suffered sensory overload combined with hunger... Even if I just spend around seven hours in the game." Tom managed to reason to himself that this was all there was to this incident. As this was the only logical option in his mind. His guesses were somewhat confirmed. As he felt that his condition started to improve as he ate. But no matter how much he ate, he could not quite sate his hunger. It was like the food somehow lacked all of its nutrients. But Tom didn't pay it much mind initially. As he had to spend quite a long time without eating. So it felt only natural.

After he had eaten around 3000 kcal worth of food in one sitting. He started to get curious and a bit anxious. But he felt that he was getting fuller, so he just kept eating. And after another 1000 kcal, he finally felt that he was full.

He was quite curious about the cause of this phenomenon. So he did a bit of research and found some studies. On how great mental exercise burns calories like crazy. He felt relieved. Knowing that there was a logical explanation for his current condition. And there was nothing wrong with his helmet. So he could keep playing without worrying. But he decided that next time he would take breaks every now and then.

Tom decided that it would probably be a good idea to go and stack up on his food stocks. As there was still the possibility that someone would accept Euros. So he could get some food without using his remaining credits.

Tom checked the news before leaving his house. And it was probably the best decision he had made during the whole month. The news feed was full of stories. About how stores have been full of people trying to buy and hoard food. And countless stories of disputes. Where stores lacked staff. As people quit their jobs in en masse, as everyone had gotten a fortune. And most were looking for ways to make it in this new era. Most stores also declined every other form of currency than credits. And were price scalping as people needed food. As the Empire's traders wouldn't be coming in for another five days. So they were enjoying their little monopoly while it lasted. Of course, in retaliation. There had been attempts to steal and raid the stores. But a platoon of drones had always appeared out of nowhere and detained the would-be criminals.

The Empire didn't approve of the price scalping. So they set up some temporary alternative stores for the time being. But they also only accepted credits. So people wouldn't have to choose between starvation or losing most of their money. Things seemed to be calming down. And people were getting food and all the other amenities they needed. But Tom decided that now wouldn't be the best time to go out and try his luck. As he still had a decent amount of food left. Also, he knew he would have to make use of every moment. Before others would start appearing in the Secverse.

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As he was about to login back into the Secverse. Tom realized that he had multiple messages on his phone. He had been so focused on the Secverse. That he hadn't even informed his friends about it.

He checked the messages. Most were just inquiries about what he planned on doing now. And what they were going to do themself. To Tom's surprise, most were thinking along the same lines as him. They had already ordered the Secverse helmets.

Tom sent them a message back. Telling them how he had already gotten into the Secverse. But he strongly iterated that he had no idea if he had made a smart decision. And informed them what he had so far seen in there. Tom was quite sure that none of them would be dumb enough to follow his lead. But he was happy knowing that when other people got their helmets. There would be a couple of friendly faces among the people joining the Secverse.

After chatting with them for a while longer, Tom finally locked back into the Secverse. He was immediately welcomed back by the first notification he had seen during his time in the game.

"You have died."

"I kinda figured that out already..." Tom muttered to himself.

To Tom's surprise, there were also other notifications. And he was not back in the pine forest. No, he was in a white room with nothing in it.

"Death penalty: lose everything on you and 12-hour login cooldown."

"Well, that's a pretty brutal penalty. Luckily I slept through that timer." Tom thought. And checked the next notification.

"As you have stupidly swallowed a Nature elemental's core and unprocessed decay juniper's berries. You have provided the Secverse valuable data. Into the human physique and how it interacts with mana. As one of Secverses' main pillars is gathering data and creating new paths to advance. All worthy attempts have to be rewarded. However, dying during the process is not ideal. As such, reward is greatly reduced."

"choose one 'minuscule info package' or 'iron dagger' "

"It seems that using myself as a human test subject does not pay that well..." Tom had gotten his hopes up. While reading the first part of the notification. Only to get them smashed to pieces seconds later.

The choice was a no-brainer for Tom. As he knew nothing of Secverse. So even a crumb of knowledge would be worth a lot to him.

After selecting it, Tom heard a powerful voice that said.

"MIND, BODY, CORE."

"WILL, FORGE, CENTRALIZE"

He understood all of the words individually. But together, he could only understand mind and body, but the core didn't fit." Could this mean that I need to get a core, like the bear had, into my body? To achieve something?" Tom thought as he already had mind and body.

He had no idea how he would go about it. And to be honest, he was not that eager to try. Even if he figured out some way, the pain from his last experiment was still fresh in his mind.

He could also place, mind, and will together. But that was about it. "Could it mean they are pairs? Mind and will. Body and forge. Core and centralize. But that just doesn't make any sense..."

Tom had no idea what this all meant. So he did the reasonable thing and ignored them for now. And hoped that he would figure it out as he explored more of the Secverse. Then he checked the last notification that was left.

"As you haven't set a respawn point. And you cannot respawn in the town. You can either respawn in the same location that you firstly arrived at or choose to be sent to a random location."

Tom was truly tempted to choose the random location as he was already sick of seeing the same flat pine forest all around him. But alas, he had already spent quite a while exploring it. He was also pretty sure he could find his way back to the hill. And reclaim his magnificent spear that was yet to taste the sweet nectar of battle. So he could not find it in himself not to reclaim it. As he had spent quite a while making it. And it was better than nothing.

So he chose the "respawn in the location you firstly arrived at" option.