“I think I’ve had enough for the day. My level is right at sixteen, and i'm pretty worn out from all this training” Yoriko said as he wiped the sweat off of his face, he had been leveling up for hours now mostly focusing on his speed and attack, he felt confident enough to enter the battle royale.

“Hate to say this but you’re right, im pretty worn out too, why don't we take a break for now” Ash decided as she was getting ready to log out “oh and feel free to play anytime even if im not able to join you” she added.

“Okay then” Yor replied “see you tomorrow at school” Yor logged out he was looking forward to seeing the real world again.

As soon as his headgear logged him out of the game, Yor woke up from the virtual game only to notice the clock on his desk.

“Oh crap, it’s already past ten, I didn’t realize how long I’ve been playing” he took off his head gear only to put it where he usually stored it, on top of his red wood dresser that stood against the wall that faced his bed.

Just then his phone rang, it was from Yoriko’s father who had been out for a while.

“Oh crap i also forgot about dinner, dad is gonna kill me” Yoriko opened his phone to read the message.

5:45

Yoriko i'm bringing home food from that restaurant you’re always talking about

I’ll be back around 6

4:50

Did you want the sweet and sour

chicken or regular?

4:55

I went ahead and got you sweet and sour

6:45

Yoriko your food is on the counter come down and eat

Yoriko put his phone down and quickly went downstairs to grab his food only to see his father waiting for him on a chair.

“Oh, um hello dad” Yorkio looked with hesitation wondering what his dad would say to him about missing dinner, but he only looked at him with disappointment.

“You didn’t answer, so when I went to check up on you cause I was worried, then I saw you playing that game” he only kept looking at Yoriko not breaking away. “You need to be here on time for dinner next time” Yoriko just scratched his head.

“I don't care what you play or how long, but you gotta take breaks to take care of yourself”. he grabbed a bag from behind him that carried a food box inside of it. “Now I already ate so here's your food” Yoriko apologized for being late and took the food upstairs with him but not before he thanked his father for it.

When he sat down at his desk he immediately

took out his food and opened the box, it was filled with small pieces of golden fried chicken with 2 small mounds of soy sauce mixed rice along with a small container of thick golden red sauce for the chicken.

Yoriko ate all he could, enjoying each delicious bite he could get. When he finished he threw away the empty box and changed into some nightwear and headed straight to bed.

“Yoriko?“ A distant voice could be heard calling out his name. “YORIKO!” The voice got louder and more serious. “YORIKO! WAKE UP!”

Yoriko woke up in a panic wondering what all the noise was.

“Yoriko, you were sleeping in, now its late, get up” Yoriko felt the warmth that was trapped under his blanket fly away, leaving only the cold emptiness air to cover him up.

“What the heck?” He mumbled, still feeling drowsy, but he could see It was his mother who had woken him up .

“You’re late for school, if you don't get up now you’ll miss your first class” she said.

Yoriko looked at the clock realizing he should’ve woken up about half an hour ago.

He quickly got out of bed putting his clothes on and brushing his teeth and ran downstairs to grab his bookbag.

“Yoriko noticed a cold plate of scrambled eggs with toast and juice. He was hungry but he didn’t have time to eat all of it so he quickly grabbed a piece of toast and put it in his mouth, running and eating at the same time.

When he finally arrived he charged right through the doors and ran down the long empty halls trying to reach his class, he ran around the corner so fast he barely had enough time to stop himself from running into one of the students that walked the halls, with a quick yelp they both plummet to the ground.

“Ow, hey watch it” the student said, holding her head.

He noticed short dirty blonde hair covering a face so he couldn’t tell who it was, when she looked up he noticed she had a red spot on her forehead from where he bumped into her.

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“I'm so sorry, I didn’t see where i was going” he reached out his hand to pull her up but she ignored him and stood up and looked at him.

She responded with a simple node and “It’s fine” she picked up her bag and walked off.

‘Strange’ Yoriko thought and picked his things up and continued but this time he was more aware of his surroundings and safety entered his classroom.

He quickly took his seat and acted like nothing had happened but everyone was staring at him wondering why he was so late, he could only respond by laying his head in his arms with embarrassment.

The bell suddenly rang a few minutes later and everyone started to get up and leave, “don’t forget to read and fix the mistakes on the sentences that are on pages 48 and 51.” The teacher yelled out to the students. “Oh and Yoriko please do stay after class” she looked directly at him, but he could only gulp with worriedness.

“You wanted to see me Mes. Joy?”

“Yes. I want to ask you about this morning, why were you late? You’re usually on time” she asked, adjusting her glasses to see him better.

“I sorta stayed up late last night and woke up late this morning, I'm sorry Mrs Joy. I won't let it happen again.” He bowed with an apology.

“It’s fine, I’ll let it pass this time” and she waved him off watching as he left.

After school got out Yoriko went up to his usual spot near the lockers to wait up for Ashi, while he waited he noticed the same girl he ran into earlier and decided to go up to her.

“Hey about earlier, i'm still sorry about before”

She just turned around and listened to what he had to say before she responded.

“It’s fine i don't care it’s in the past, so it doesn’t matter anymore”

“If you’re sure” he looked at her with an apologetic look.

“Yoriko!” Another voice interrupted him

“Hey Yoriko, sorry I'm late. I had to finish some stuff. Oh who’s this?” Ashi noticed the girl right beside Yoriko.

“I'm just leaving” the girl left In no hurry.

“Strange. Are the two of you friends or something?” She asked.

“Oh no, I just ran into her this morning, “ he answered.

“hm. Well anyways let's walk home together”

She went ahead of him waiting for him to follow.

“So this event we’ve been training for, it’s only a couple of days from now, only one more week left to go” her eyes grew wide

“There you go again” he looked at her.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

He only kept looking at her “getting over excited about this game haha” Yoriko laughed.

“Yeah whatever” she responded.

They kept walking for a while until they got to a crosswalk.

“Well if you’re not busy later on let's have a one on one battle” she smirked. “It will give you more practice since you haven’t fought another player.” Yoriko thought it was a good idea, he needed to practice with someone who had full control over their moves, real people who weren’t easy to predict like the boars he’s been slaying.

“Alright, sounds fun. But I’ll definitely take you down” he said, cracking his knuckles.

“You’re on. But I won't go easy on you” she responded.

They both went their separate ways feeling the excitement of finally being able to have a dual with each other.

“I'm home!” Yoriko yelled while he was taking off his shoes.

“Welcome home honey” his mom yelled back

But yoriko was already running halfway up the stairs, once he got into his room he changed into something more comfortable and started on his school work.

‘Knock’ ‘knock’

He heard a loud knock on his door.

“Come in,” he said, expecting it to be his mom.

He saw the door open up wide with his mom standing right there.

“Oh yoriko don't think I forgot about this morning” she said with her arms crossed. Yor was looking at her with surprise and fear.

“Your father told me about last night and how long you stayed up” she just kept looking at him not waiting for him to respond. “I expect better from you, I don't care how you use your free time as long as it doesn’t interfere with school. You were almost late this morning, I don't want that to happen again, you hear me?” she said in a stern voice now waiting for him to respond.

“Yes mom I’ll make sure” he said watching her nod and leave his room shutting the door behind her. He was thankful he got off easy, but he knew if something like this happened again she would most likely take his device taken away for the day, and he didn’t want that to happen especially during the big event. He thought about how excited Ashi was for it and how she would kill him if he wasn’t able to participate.

“Well time to get on with my work, then I’ll text Ashi to join so we can battle.” Yoriko went through all of his work, when he was done he checked the time and noticed how early it was, he texted Ashi that he was joining and she replied with an ‘alright’. He put his phone down and joined the game.