The morning of the big day started out as usual. I got up early, prepared breakfast, and began walking to the gym. Even though I was only a few weeks into this routine, I was feeling better than I could ever remember.

Regular exercise really did wonders for you, and I was even beginning to see just a hint of muscle forming on my arms and legs. Bulking up hadn’t been the point of doing this, however, it was definitely a welcome outcome.

Unfortunately, the trip to the gym was just as nerve-wracking as usual, if not more so. I could swear that the number of people loitering in alleys had only increased since I started this trip and, given the state of this area, it wasn’t something that engendered confidence.

Still, I made it to the gym without incident and began my workout. I was now getting through the full program I’d found online, which was a significant improvement from when I started. Soon I would have to increase the difficulty, which made me smile.

I’d always been thin and wimpy, my natural constitution not helped by spending most of my time indoors. This was the first time I’d ever started getting in shape and I found I liked it.

Still, it was hard work, and I groaned with relief as I finished my last set of reps. Without thinking, I reached out with my mind toward the water bottle sitting by the wall. It took several long moments before I realized it wasn’t just going to appear in my hand, not here in the real world.

“I’m getting too used to that in the game”, I sighed as I wandered over to pick it up. If it wasn’t such good training for the ability, I’d try to cut back on the casual use. It was vaguely concerning to be building habits that were useless in the real world, however, given my situation, I wouldn’t change now.

With another sigh, I finished my water and moved over to the changing rooms. Soon I was done and left the building, slinging my ratty gym bag over my shoulder as I went.

The trip back always felt twice as long as the way in because of a mixture of exhaustion and impatience. Today was particularly bad, as I couldn’t wait to get started on my trip up the mountain. The last facility had given me my first ability, I could only imagine what I might find in this one.

I had thought about it extensively and I believed that the best outcome would be an upgrade of my Item Attunement ability. While I still didn’t know the exact mechanics of how acquiring them worked, I had a feeling that if I could find another ritual chamber designed to grant the same ability, it would perform an upgrade.

Given that this was the second in a set of four facilities that appeared to be related to each other, it felt like a reasonable expectation for them to have the same ritual chambers. Of course, I could be wrong, but that was part of the excitement of exploration.

While a different ability wouldn’t be terrible, I was mindful of needing a class skill per ability. As leveling slowed, I could see myself gathering more abilities than I could use, forcing me to choose between them. That made upgrading my current abilities more desirable.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice the roaring sound of the motorbike until it was almost too late.

Glancing up as the noise registered, I almost froze in shock at the sight of the bike bearing down on me along the walkway. However, the instincts I’d developed playing VSO cut in and I dived into an alley on my right, dropping my bag as I did so.

Rather than the graceful roll I expected, I flopped onto the ground with a groan, my actual body being both unused to such movements and slower than I was used to. “Fucking hell,” I moaned as I pulled myself to my feet.

I couldn’t understand how that had even happened. I’d been well onto the sidewalk when the bike came at me from the front, the driver had to have been riding on it as well. While the city was in a pretty terrible state these days, I was pretty sure people weren’t just running down others for fun yet.

Then the situation dawned on me as I noticed a figure standing at the far end of the alleyway, clearly blocking the way forward. My heart fell as I spun back toward the entrance behind me to see another man standing in front of a parked bike, blocking my escape.

This hadn’t been an accident. It had to have been a carefully planned and timed operation to get me trapped and isolated in this alley. Fuck, some of those people earlier really were watching me. Probably have been this whole time to get my schedule down.

I held up my hands and backed away slightly, glancing over my shoulder as I did so. The man at the far end was glancing back and forth, checking out the street he was next to. He seemed to be keeping watch as much as blocking the path.

While it was nice that I would not be attacked from behind, that still left one prepared and dangerous man in front of me.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He stepped forward, drawing a switchblade from his pocket and flicking it open as he did so. “Now then,” he drawled as he followed me, step by step. “I’m sure you can see the situation you're in. Transfer the contents of your accounts over and you might make it out alive.”

I winced as the situation dawned on me. In the decades since people had stopped carrying cash, muggers had found ways to continue their dark trade. In many ways, they had changed for the worse as they developed new methods.

Where once you would just lose a wallet and whatever you had in it, these days they would torture you until you gave them everything cent you owned. I’d heard that in the past banks would often refund you for such fraudulent activity, however, these days you’d be lucky not to get laughed off your support call.

Time seemed to slow as the consequences flashed through my mind. This couldn’t have come at a worse time. I needed the money in my real-life accounts to live on while I struggled to get up and running in VSO, and with the commitments I’d made for this latest mission, I couldn’t afford to pull much money out of the game.

Giving in here would ruin all of that, likely forcing me to downsize or even cancel the expedition. On the other hand, refusing had even more serious outcomes. Muggers like this had killed more than a few people who didn’t cooperate, and I doubted anyone would even notice if I disappeared here.

Everything snapped back into focus as the leather-clad biker in front of me scowled in annoyance. “Hey, I’m talking to you. Either sit down and go through your accounts with me or be prepared to pay the price.” He brandished the knife as he finished, clearly trying to intimidate me.

Strangely, it wasn’t working as well as it should have. Even though it had just been a game, I’d been fighting for my life for weeks in VSO. With the level of realism in the game, and the level of pain you could feel, every fight there had felt just as real as this encounter here.

And in the end, some random biker with a knife wasn’t half as terrifying as the Beasts I’d been facing. Instead of standing there trembling, my hands clenched into fists.

How dare this man try to ruin everything just when everything was coming together, when I was feeling better than I ever had before?

A resolve to not give in grew within me and I began analyzing the situation like any fight I’d had in VSO. Instincts developed from over more than a hundred fights began working as I prepared to act.

Just as the man opened his mouth to shout again, I darted forward at his offside. I could see him blink in shock as I approached before he awkwardly swung the knife across his body.

Acting without thought, I intercepted the knife with my right arm, accepting a deep cut to protect my body. I twisted as I did so, using my left arm to drive a punch into his chest with my full body weight.

He crumpled forward with a groan, his arms going limp.

Ignoring the searing pain in my arm, for now, I grabbed his knife arm while he was distracted and jammed it down onto his thigh.

He screamed as the knife drove deep into his flesh and I darted back out of reach as he slumped into a sitting position. Turning, I sprinted the short distance to his bike and clumsily tried to vault over it.

I hit the top and barreled onward, tipping the bike with a crunch as I went. Still, I had made it, and I scrabbled back to my feet and sprinted off toward my apartment.

I didn’t stop until I was sure no one was chasing me, and even then just to tear my shirt off and bind the wound on my arm.

Minutes later, I slammed open the door to my apartment before swinging the door closed and locking it. Finally safe, I slumped to the ground as the adrenaline left me. The pain in my arm was excruciating and with no stats in the real world, I had nothing to help dull it.

Looking back, I could barely believe what had happened. There was no way I would have acted like that in the past, just a month ago I would have given them everything I had just to get out alive.

Instead, I’d fought my way out with a ferocity that was reminiscent of my fights in the game. While my body had been clumsy, my mind had still acted and reacted just as well in the real world. Even to the point of seriously injuring that man in order to escape.

I almost threw up as I realized what I’d done. I’d never hurt someone in the real world before and now I’d ruthlessly stabbed a man. While it had been in self-defense, the way I had acted without hesitation worried me.

I really hope he doesn’t die, I thought, suppressing the urge to hurl again. There’s an artery in the leg that can kill you if it’s severed, right? Did I hit that? Was there enough blood for that?

I didn’t know, I hadn’t been paying attention to that kind of thing. All I had thought about was escaping before the other man could intervene. Given that I hadn’t been chased, I could only hope that he had gone to help his friend.

If not for the pain in my arm, I probably would have lain there worrying for hours. Before long, however, it become unbearable and I dragged myself up and pulled out my tiny first aid kit. I hadn’t used it in years, however, there was a bandage for my arm, a bottle of almost certainly out-of-date painkillers, and some disinfectant.

Not daring to look at the use-by date, I downed a couple of pills and braced myself to disinfect the wound. It was a nasty cut, and I didn’t have the experience to know if it would need stitches. Not that it mattered, since I lacked health insurance. The chances of me being treated in a hospital were practically nil.

So instead, I disinfected it with a deep groan before wrapping the wound up in a bandage. I would just have to monitor it and hope that it healed up OK.

With the wound dealt with, I flopped onto my bed and sunk back into my dark thoughts. While I knew I would have to return to the game eventually, and that Linnea and Adam were waiting for me, I needed at least a little time to process.

I considered calling the police as I lay there before eventually decided not to. From what I’d heard, they barely cared about this area because of its lack of corporate facilities or wealthy citizens. Even if they responded, it would likely just cause trouble for me.

There was no chance the mugger would call them either, so it would be best just to let the matter be forgotten. While I would have to find another gym and avoid that area, as long as I never went back, I should be OK.

Finally, after several hours of tossing and turning in bed, I dragged myself out and over to the VR pod. I had work to do and I could continue sorting out my feelings later.