Chapter 3

Sun was shining right into my face, and It was increasingly uncomfortable to stay in bed. Yawning, I got up and reflexively tried to grab my clothes from the chair like I always did, but there was no chair near me.

"Right, I got stuck."

Yesterday I felt panic, but today I only felt slightly nervous and nothing else. I didn’t want to think about this too much so that I won't start panicking again. I tried to shrug this feeling off as I went to wash my face.

I quietly checked the flat and saw that Greg and Annie were still sleeping. I wanted to avoid talking to them, so I decided to leave. I found something to eat in the fridge and changed into shorts with a sleeveless t-shirt and a light windbreaker.

Leaving behind a note for the couple, I left the apartment. Plugging my earphones, I opened the music playlist on the phone. After light electronic music started playing, I went outside.

Walking down a few floors and leaving the condominium, I finally saw the city. It looked a bit different than I remembered. As I played this game, the art style was somewhat unreal, like I was inside some kind of an anime. But right now, I felt that it toned down, and I was somewhere in the middle between the cartoon and reality.

I looked at a few passersby, and indeed they were all a bit too good-looking for it to be a reality. Women had more curves that looked like they all had plastic surgeries and a ton of cosmetics on their faces. As for the men, they all looked younger and cleaner. No protruding bellies and no balding heads. Their faces looked a lot fairer, and they looked fit and healthy.

Other than this, they all looked like normal people. Going here and there, talking with each other, or discussing something on the phones.

As for the town, it looked like some generic-looking city. The kind of city you can find in most of the countries. Except that it was looking a lot cleaner and somewhat retro-futuristic. Like I went back in time for ten years or so and then entered the city of the future that the people at that time would picture.

Or maybe it used the design of a real city. The one that I've never heard of or was interested in. Anyway, feeling the fresh air, I started walking in the direction of the school of this body's owner. The school\college in the game was the main stage, so it stayed in a fixed location. The thing that changed was the way you reached it.

I looked at the road on the pc, and I could've easily used my phone to make a route for me, but I decided against it. Partially because I just wanted to walk around and look at this city to see if something was different.

Finally, after an hour of slow walking, I reached the perimeter of the school. It looked different than how I remembered it in the game.

The building itself was a lot more futuristic and bigger. It was blindingly white, with a few smaller ones, colored differently, attached to it. The thing that caught my attention the most, was a tower-like thing that protruded from one of the corners of the main building.

In the game's setting, this institution was a combination of a high school and a college. And the main quirk of the school was that it reared not government or office workers but athletes. With a heavy emphasis on fighters.

In the game, the main stars of today weren't Hollywood, but fighters. So, many businessmen in different countries joined forces to open facilities like this. To rear their own stars that will be used in the future, to make money.

And this school was precisely a place like this. Opened by a bunch of old moneybags, one of the most prestigious schools in the world. Birchland High.

I saw people looking like students, walking here and there, so I decided to leave this as is. I didn’t want to suddenly bump into this body's close friend or classmate. I continued my exploration of this city.

I walked through the streets and unknowingly reached an outdoor gym. It was in the middle of the park, but no people were exercising right now. As I looked through and saw a horizontal bar, I felt a hunch to make some pull-ups.

Remembering how I slapped the table yesterday, I needed to test this body capability and adjust my control over it. You could've done it in the game, so I hoped that it would still be possible here. I placed a bottle of the water I bought a little earlier, my keys and phone on a bench that stood nearby.

After I've done some basic calisthenics, I couldn’t feel any fatigue from doing the basics. I tried to implement something harder, based on what I saw on the internet, or on the streets as others did it.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I still didn't feel tired. I sweated a little, and my breathing got rougher, but I could've gone for more. Maybe it was me doing everything wrong, or maybe this body was really made for physical activities.

"Do I know you?"

I shivered from being caught off guard. A girl's voice brought me back to reality from thinking. Looking around, I noticed that there were a lot more people now doing exercises at this outdoor gym. I didn't want to be seen by people, so I went to get my stuff from the bench and check the time.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." But the girl's voice was now closer and sounded annoyed.

"It's not a gentlemanly thing to ignore the woman."

There were a lot of people, yet she chose me. I turned around and saw a beautiful girl. She wore a sports bra and cycling shorts. Her short platinum blonde hair was shaved on the sides and was tied in a small ponytail. Her face was the very definition of beauty, and in the real world, she would be a top-class celebrity. There was a piercing at the corner of her left eyebrow that was raised right now.

Her expression showed that she was irritated.

"Are you talking to me?" I once again looked around to ascertain one last time if she was talking to me.

"Who else?" she rolled her eyes.

"Do I know you?"

"That's the question I asked you seconds ago." She closed the distance and hastily looked me over. "I have this feeling like I've seen you somewhere before."

"Well, I am seeing you for the first time in my life." her judging gaze felt uncomfortable. "If you don’t have any business with me, I will go."

"Do you frequent this place?" she started tapping with her left leg.

"Today is the first time I'm here."

"Hmm, where have I seen you?" she was now deep in thought, holding her chin between her thin fingers with her brows creased.

I think that the way she behaved was an example of bad manners. If you need something from a person, you shouldn't leave him hanging. And when I tried to walk away, she once again focused her attention on me.

"Anyway," she snapped her fingers, "It doesn’t matter if I've seen you before, won't you join my team?"

I was completely confused. What team? Is she a mighty morphin?

"Sorry, what kind of team are you talking about?" I didn’t feel much exhaustion after training but staying under the sun was unbearable. And instead of answering my question, she threw me a bottle of water. Maybe she felt that I wanted to drink?

"You should stay hydrated when the weather is so hot." Corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

But I threw the bottle back at her. It didn't matter who gave me the bottle, an ugly man or a transcending goddess, I felt squeamish drinking from someone else's bottle, even if it was a game world instead of reality.

"Thanks, but I have mine." As I took my own bottle and gulped a few mouthfuls of water, I observed her reaction.

I managed to surprise her. She was startled for a few seconds. Yet her smile returned back to her in a moment, and more so than before. Even her eyes looked like they were glistening.

"I'm Jessie." she held her hand for a handshake. I stared at her hand for a minute or so. She then retracted her hand, clearly feeling awkward.

"I don’t shake hands with women. And my name is Erlig," I put both of my hands behind and puffed my chest slightly, "So what do you want from me?" I tried to make some distance between us by doing so. I didn't want any unwanted attention. And a girl walking around asking about joining some team? It sounded like a flag I didn't want to raise

"You are an interesting person, Erlig." she squinted her eyes. "As I told you before, my name is Jessie, and I represent team Brave and Bold. I think you would be a fine addition to our team." saying this, confidence that she shoved before the handshake returned to her.

Team Brave and Bold? What the hell was it? Sounds lame, and most importantly, I didn't remember anything like this in the game. I tried to remember what it was, but my train of thought was once again interrupted by this girl.

"I know that right now you can't believe your own ears, Erlig. I understand this. As you know, it's incredibly hard to be accepted to our team, as it's very prestigious. You should know that the admission rate to our team is one in a million. But when I saw your training right now, I felt how you are an uncut gem. I hold some authority over the team, so I can take you without any additional examinations. In the right hands, you will shine better than anyone and who has better hands than our team." She stood there proudly with her face gleaming at me. Feeling like there was no chance I would refuse.

But the way she ranted didn't bring me any confidence. To this moment, I didn’t know a single thing about the team she was talking about? I felt that it went against my wish to quietly wait for awakening. So I've had only two words for her.

"Not interested."

I placed everything I left on the bench back into the pockets of my windbreaker and plugged my earphones. I took a quick glance at her before leaving. She stood there like a statue with a hollow look in her eyes.

Well, I guess it isn't my problem. I checked the time and saw that it would be dinner time soon. Feeling hungry from all the exercise I did, I went back home.

Using a different route on my way back I tried to remember the general layout of the city. And again, all the people around looked way too different. Women wore tight-fitting clothes that looked a little transparent. The way their body was hugged even showed traces of their bras and panties. And men all looked like they took skincare every day along with frequenting gyms.

Overall, both men and women looked overly sexualized. Almost like I was walking inside some Korean adult manhwa. Of course, I saw some random ugly-looking men, but it was like ratios of ugly to handsome from the real world were reversed.

After another half an hour, I returned back home, where I had dinner with Greg and Annie. They asked what I did and made more remarks on how I should take care of my health and not overexercise. I managed to sit through it relatively unscathed.

After washing up, I went back to this body's room and plunged into the desk chair. As I relaxed after the long day, I browsed the internet when a single thought struck me like a bolt of lightning.

I remembered that there was a school waiting for me tomorrow.