Setting: Real World — Negros Occidental, Shen's Apartment. Noon light filters through dusty blinds. Silence reigns.
The hiss of the pod's pneumatic locks broke the stillness like a gunshot. Shen exhaled slowly as the Liberty Online interface faded from his vision, the HUD retreating like a ghost from his pupils. He stayed still for a moment, eyes fixed on the ceiling, arms limp at his sides.
Even out of the game, the echoes of combat lingered—the feel of searing magic channeled through his body, the tremors of earth-shaking spells, the weight of a Titan-class enemy's presence. But now, there was only the hum of a quiet fan and the creak of cheap floorboards.
"Logout complete. Welcome back, player Shen."
He sat up, muscles aching. Not from strain, but from the phantom memory of wounds taken in-game. The long battle against Mornacht, the Titan-class entity, had left his body sweating despite the pod's climate regulation.
