By the time Solomon got back home, it was already five.
His parents would not be back until ten, so Solomon decided to eat an early dinner which consisted of lunch's left overs - a fried fish, two bowls of rice, and a variety of vegetables.
Solomon may cheat the mandatory exercise, but he would never alter his eating habits. He believed that meals should be made generously with plenty of side dishes.
After so many years of half-baked exercise and his hearty eating, Solomon was surprised he was still somewhat skinny. He could only thank his parents for passing him their good genes.
Once he had finished his meal, he washed his dishes and made his way to his room on the second floor of the house.
Solomon immediately sat back on his chair and readied his VR equipment. After immersing himself in the virtual reality, the first thing he saw was the empty white space of the Hub World. He was about to launch Immortals of the Skies when he noticed that Saber King Matthew had sent him another message.
User 10052: Hmmph! Even if you're 100 years old, you are still a little brat! Since you've accepted my challenge, then don't blame me when I beat you up! All I have to do now is find you now! Just you wait until I figure out how to hack computers!
Solomon found Saber King Matthew's threat amusing.
"How are you going to find me, old geezer? Do you really think you can hack me and find my address?"
Solomon was sure he wasn't dealing with a smurf hacker. He checked User 10052's profile page, and found it was covered in personal posts and pictures.
The profile was covered in rant posts and images of the user's meals.
User 10052 was even dumb enough to post a selfie picture of himself!
The picture showed a bald old man who was probably in his fifty's doing a duck face, making Solomon nearly barf.
"This guy really is one of those trendy grandpas...." Solomon shivered as he thought this.
Solomon thought of the silly image of someone's grandpa furiously sending threats while hooked up to their VR equipment. Then he thought of said grandpa trying to hack his account.
HumbleHut: Waste your time however you want, old man. Don't you know the VR space is guarded like a bank account? I'll be surprised if a noob who can't even change his username can get past all the security!
Without wasting anymore time with Rage King Matthew, Solomon launched the MMO Immortals of the Skies.
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A bright flash filled Solomon's eyes, and in the next moment, Solomon found himself standing in a blood covered canyon.
Multiple corpses littered the earth, and they all wore horrifying expressions.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Peh, that's what you greedy scavengers get!" Solomon spat on one of the bodies before pulling a simple red rug from a small pouch.
"Why can't space bags exist in reality.... they're so useful!"
Solomon then sat cross legged on the rug and sent some of his spiritual power into it. After receiving his energy, the rug began to float of the ground, earning a excited laugh from Solomon.
"Haha! I can't get tired of this! I'm just like Aladdin! Red Streak, On wards!"
After hearing his command, the rug titled Red Streak shot out of the canyon and into the surrounding jungle.
As Solomon shot past the vegetation, all that could be seen of him was a red streak of light.
After a the time it takes to make a cup of cocoa, Solomon arrived in front the base of a mountain. A simple wall of dirt and rock. No signs that anyone had been here lay in sight.
Only Solomon knew that beyond this natural looking landscape was his great lair!
"Seals, open!"
Once commanded by Solomon, the hidden restrictions could only obey!
Bright red chains revealed themselves all over the surrounding area. They were coiled around trees! They cover the floor like grass! They hung from the branches like vines!
It was as if the world was held together by these crimson chains!
Had anyone else unleashed their spiritual power, all of these chains would have lashed out at them. They would have surely died! But since it was Sky Master Solomon who called them, they could only yield!
Shortly after they revealed themselves, the crimson chains opened a hole within the base of the mountain. One could not judge how far the tunnel went. The tunnel was already pitch black after a few yards in.
When the tunnel was opened by the chains, the rug sped in without hesitation.
Just as soon as he had come, Solomon had left.
Without further command, the chains closed the tunnel on their own. After sealing the lair entrance, the chains then hid themselves back within their surrounding, waiting to strike at any intruders.
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Solomon made many twists and turn through his labyrinth. It was easy for outsiders to get lost here.
Towards the end of the tunnel, the Red Streak Rug began to slow down.
The tunnel was very long, and even with Red Streak's speed, travelling through the tunnel still took about thirty breaths.
Red Streak finally stopped within a spacious stone room. It was a completely empty room that Solomon used to sort through his new treasures.
Solomon had dug this lair out on his own. It had taken him a month to dig it out completely and another month for him to place all of his seals.
Sky Master Solomon was extremely proud of his work.
After he arrived to the heart of his lair, Solomon hopped off of Red Streak before putting the rug bag back within his spatial bag.
Solomon then took out multiple spatial bags and began dumping what seemed like an endless amount of items.
Solomon couldn't help but grin at the sight of his profit.
"Heh heh! Look at all this! I bet it'll sell for a lot!"
Whenever Sky Master Solomon would finish his harvests, he would end up with more items than he needed. He didn't want to keep a bunch of trash lying around, so he decided to sell the rarities he didn't need back to players for double the price.
Not many items could catch Solomon's eyes with the level he was at now. In the past, it would take days before he could properly sift through everything, but now that he was one of the most powerful warriors, only few items could grab his attention.
After a few short moments, two piles were made. One large pile designated as trash and one pile consisting of only thirty items designated as items of interest. There were no items that he thought were useful for himself.
Out of hundreds of items, only thirty were acceptable to Solomon!
"Adding this to the last harvest, I should have enough to buy the new VRMMO's!"
With so many treasures, Solomon only saw a couple of dollars. Solomon didn't play Immortals of the Skies to get stronger. He played it so he could make money!
Solomon sighed. "Even the most expensive items in game are only worth a couple dollars in real life... It's taken me five excursions, but I think I've saved up for some new games!"
Solomon's parents, although less strict about VR, still made Solomon responsible for what he does with his VR. He had to buy new attachments on his own. He had to buy games on his own. He had to earn everything himself!
Solomon couldn't care less about his ranking in games. All he cared about was moving on with his VR hobbies!