Diamond's house was, like her, beautiful, but with a few flaws to add a touch of realism. The hot water heater in the bathroom wasn't working, the kitchen floor had a few stains, and there were way too many paintings on the walls. Zera was seated on one of the two wooden armchairs in the living room. Between questions, he took sips from a glass of cocaine that Diamond had served him.
"At least until level 50."
"And I can level up here, in your house, by killing virtual monsters."
"Exactly."
"And when I hit level 50, we can go out and kill the real ones."
"You can."
"Aren't you coming with me?"
"We'll see… I don't know. I need to think about it a lot."
Diamond had refilled his cocaine glass four times by now. At this point, most people would have already passed out (in this game, where the system prevented overdoses, in real life his head would have exploded), but Zera didn't feel the slightest bit woozy. Which was pretty sad, given his immense curiosity. He had never done drugs while playing in virtual reality. And besides, did drugs even work the same when taken as cocktails, like this, compared to just snorting them? What would happen if he added a few drops of heroin or fentanyl to his cocktail? Apparently, he'd never know…
"This is the worst skill in the world. No doubt about it."
"I hope you're not saying that just because of the drugs. Besides, the system never lets us get truly wasted."
"But I don't feel anything. Not even a tickle. I just got the only SSR skill I'll ever see in my life, and it's a fucking piece of shit that doesn't even let me forget how miserable I am…"
"Zera, your brain's reward system has been completely overhauled… it's impossible for you to crave drugs that badly."
"Have you ever heard of psychological dependence?"
"Even so, the idea of doing drugs shouldn't generate much dopamine right now."
"And it doesn't… maybe I'm overreacting… In fact, now that I think about it… I don't even feel like smoking… regular cigarettes… I mean, tobacco. Anyway, this skill is a piece of shit, no matter how you look at it…"
"If you say so…"
Less than an hour ago, Diamond had almost gone crazy with envy when she saw Zera bathed in a yellow glow on his first visit to the Sanctuary. And she felt even worse when she saw him so disappointed. In the end, she brought him to her house so he could kill some monsters, but the messenger was taking his sweet time bringing the VR headset they had ordered.
"I guess I understand you a bit, you got into this world with one of the skills I've most desired in my life, yet you find it completely useless because all you want to do is kill monsters, right? Meanwhile, I have a solid martial arts skill, and absolutely no desire to get into a fight."
"Why would anyone want Absolute Immunity?"
"I'm talking about Literary Talent. Or Artistic Talent, for drawing, for music… I don't care; all I've ever wanted was to be an artist. I guess that's why I ended up studying art history."
"And haven't you just tried making art? You know, like in the old days…"
"Of course I have. A lot, actually. But all I managed to get was an R-rank skill for reports and an N-rank for abstract painting. Which I got after trying to do a self-portrait, by the way…"
"I suppose there's always someone worse than you."
"Does my lack of talent make you feel better?"
"A bit, to be honest… Could we swap skills?"
"No. You can only swap tickets."
"That's what I thought."
Zera couldn't stop marveling at the realism of the game. The developers who hired him as a beta tester had warned him, it was the most modern technology, powered by quantum AIs. Sure, there were a few bugs and glitches (they used that word), but overall the game experience would be indistinguishable from reality. Yet Zera didn't truly believe it until he opened his eyes. It was too real. Diamond, for example. Yes, she was beautiful, sure, she had the typical extra-large tits of video game waifus, but she wasn't entirely perfect. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail that, obviously, hadn't received much thought. She had under-eye bags, not too pronounced, but they were there, beneath her overly expressive, dark eyes. Her skin wasn't flawless; you could see a few reminders of youthful acne. He'd already noticed how she bit the left corner of her lip when she was deep in thought, just like now. In Zera's opinion, those details made her even more beautiful, but…
"Zera, how do you know there are monsters here? I know very well that there were no monsters on Earth when they froze you."
The question took him by surprise, but since he'd already learned that his answers directly affected his future, Zera calmly took his time before lying:
"The system told me so."
"Really?"
"Of course. The first time I saw my status, I thought it was pathetic, and the system told me I'd level up by defeating monsters."
Diamond seemed relieved by his answer.
"Makes sense."
And then, finally, the doorbell rang. Diamond went to answer it and returned two minutes later with a box.
"You put this on my tab?"
"What tab?"
"I mean, I'll pay for it, just like that wasted bottle of cocaine."
"It's not that expensive, you know?"
"I insist."
Zera found himself wishing he had stopped at a bar on the way to the Sanctuary… how depressing… Drugs were cheap, legal, and delicious… but a glass of mango juice hit him harder. Diamond opened the package, pulled out a VR headset very similar to the one the *real* Zera was wearing in his real world, and connected the cable coming from it to some sort of USB port, one of dozens of little holes scattered across the house's walls. Zera set his empty glass on the table and grabbed the newly connected headset. Diamond hooked up her old headset and sat down in the other armchair in the living room.
"What do I have to do?"
"Just put it on. I'm going to create a group and send you an invitation. Accept it, and that's it."
"Awesome! The briefing is over, time to go kill some monsters!"
For a few seconds, Diamond was completely blank before asking:
"Are you sure the cocaine didn't mess you up at all?"