"Scared I poisoned it?" Sophia chuckled, as Josh had not touched the food on his plate
"Of course not," Josh said.
'I'm not scared you poisoned it, I'm only scared that the food might turn out to be poison.' Josh thought, looking at the pink-coloured peppers and the black-coloured vegetables.
Gathering a little courage, Josh quickly used the spoon to scoop some of the vegetables and put in into his mouth.
[+3 Agility, +5 Stamina]
'I actually get stats from eating?' Josh thought, dumbfounded.
But he had already eaten, why didn't he get stats then? Perhaps these were made from special plants. That explanation would be plausible, as Sophia was from a top family.
'This is good.' Josh thought, a blissful expression on his face, as he chewed in delight, savouring the spicy flavour of the vegetables.
"You like it?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah, it's really good," Josh answered enthusiastically and continued chewing on his food.
Sophia looked at him amused as if he acted like a little child whose mother made his favourite meal.
[+6 Strength, +7 Health]
Josh received notifications as he chewed on the meat
"Which animal is the meat from?" Josh asked, curiously, savouring the taste of the well-grilled meat.
"It's from a rank F deer," Sophia replied.
"You did a great job, I'm sure not many people can compare to your culinary skills, besides, even though being from a rich home you don't seem like a spoiled brat to me." Josh complimented honestly.
Back on earth, he went to the most expensive schools due to his high intelligence, so he could gladly say he knew the attitude of most kids from rich homes.
Although he was not being stereotypical, he was right to some extent. Most rich kids were spoilt brats.
"Thanks." Sophia blushed at his compliments, "You too."
"You can't say I experienced a rich lifestyle can you?" Josh chuckled.
"Right." Sophia nodded.
The two continued to devour the food in awkward silence. Minutes later, they were finally done with the food.
"Let me do away with the plates," Sophia said, taking both plates and placing them on a tray.
"Thanks," Josh said, as he watched Sophia leave with the plates.
Not long after, Sophia returned and took a seat at the dining table.
"So, how are you preparing for your duel with my cousin?" Sophia decided to break the awkward silence.
"Let's just say in a little less than a month you'll have a depressed cousin." Josh smiled.
"You're really confident you'll be able to beat him?" Sophia asked.
"Why not?" Josh chuckled.
"How about we have a little spar?" Sophia suggested as she wanted to test the capabilities of Josh.
"That would be another time." Josh decided not to totally reject her offer.
"When you're ready." Sophia shrugged.
"Got any games we could play?" Josh asked.
As a seasoned gamer, being a professional in almost all the top games on earth. Josh missed playing his favourite video games a lot. Although, if had a chance to start playing the same games here he would reject it without a second thought.
Why? The first time Josh downloaded a video game on his computer, saying he sucked at it was an understatement. He was a walking disaster! After his first game, a teammate of his invited him to play and he accepted.
This was how he was sucked into the world of gaming. The long hours playing with friends, grinding to reach the top ranks. The long losing streaks, the clutches, times when he just felt like quitting, times when he would make mistakes and blame it on his network service provider, times when he would put on pour out his heartfelt insults at his teammates, the laughs, the feeling of euphoria he got when he did amazing things, the bulging eyes due to lack of sleep, the feeling of satisfaction knowing you're better than 90% of players.
Being a gamer is like a never-ending journey, you get better with time, but when you lose you can always blame it on your network.
In all, Gaming is only fun when played with friends.
'Memories.' Josh sighed, a small smile forming on his face.
"Yeah. Wanna play Magic online?" Sophia asked "I've never played it before though." Josh said, revealing the fact that he did not know anything about the game while hiding the fact that he didn't even know the game exists.
"Seriously you never played it?" Sophia asked in disbelief.
"No." Josh shook his head.
"Oh well, it's not really difficult to play so I'll teach you. Just that I have to create an alternate account so we can both be on the same level." Sophia said.
"That would be great." Josh nodded.
"Alright then, let me go get my helmets," Sophia said, getting up.
'That must be a virtual reality helmet.' Josh reasoned.
"It's kept in your room right?" Josh asked.
"Yes," Sophia replied.
"Why don't we go play it in there?" Josh asked with an innocent expression on his face.
"That's an even better idea." Sophia smiled.
Josh got up from his seat, "Lead the way."
Sophia led the way to her room, while Josh followed from behind.
"Your house is beautiful I have to admit." Josh complimented, admiring the beautiful interior.
"Thanks." Sophia appreciated.
"We're here." Sophia finally stopped in front of a room.
"So, bright," Josh said, seeing the walls painted bright pink.
"Colours brighten life," Sophia said.
"Isn't that literally what they're supposed to do?" Josh asked, "cool room, by the way, it's so... organised."
'Now that I've come to think of it, I really need to work on my room a little bit.' Josh thought.
Josh had never cared much about the orderliness of his room. To him, as long as no rats or cockroaches were creeping around, all was well. But at least a little maintenance wouldn't hurt.
"I just can't stand living in an unorganized room. I wonder how people live like that." Sophia said.
"Me too." Josh chuckled.
Josh approached Sophia's bed and jumped into it.
"So fluffy!" Josh hugged the pillow like a panda would hug a bamboo tree.
"You're an overgrown child." Sophia shook her head.
"Like you're not going to join me here in a few minutes." Josh smiled slyly.
Sophia shook her head and proceeded to retrieve her virtual reality helmet.
"Found one," Sophia announced, a helmet on her left, "now where's the second one...Found it." She tossed the second helmet at Josh.
"Hey! That could've easily hit me on the head." Josh complained.
"But did it?" Sophia grinned.
"I'm going to give you a little lesson on manners one these days," Josh said with a pondering expression on his face.
"For now, come lay with daddy." Josh patted the empty spot on the bed beside him.
"Just don't even attempt any perverted," Sophia said and lay beside Josh.
"Or else?"
"Let's just say you'll die a virgin." Sophia smiled.
"Hey! Who told you that this sir is a virgin?" Josh feigned anger.
"Intuition I guess." Sophia shrugged.
"Well your intuition is a little under the weather," Josh said and continued, "all I have to do is put on the headset right?"
"Yes. What do you want to set your name as?" Sophia asked.
"How about pain," Josh replied.
"That might be taken," Sophia said.
"Perhaps," Josh thought hard and decided to use his old in-game name, "Ishowstrenght shouldn't be taken right?"
"Ishowstrenght? Weird name." Sophia said.
"It's not supposed to be cool. It's just so my enemies know that I show strength." Josh explained his reasoning behind the name.
"Understandable, when you get into the game, I am going to send you a friend request," Sophia said.
"What is your sign?" Josh asked.
"Frost Goddess," Sophia replied.
Judging by her IGN, Josh deduced that Sophia had a water magic affinity.
"Really? Frost Goddess? That's cringe." Josh scoffed.
"Like Ishowstrenght is any better." Sophia rolled her eyes.
"At least it does not cringe," Josh argued.
Ignoring Josh's argument, Sophia said, "when you log in, all you just have to do is set your name, maybe pick from the free costumes, and pick magic affinity if you want."
"Pick a magic affinity?" Josh asked, trying his best to mask his excitement.
This was absolutely incredible! Being able to use magic affinities while playing the game also meant one thing. He would be able to train while playing the game!
Normally, other people shouldn't get stronger physically from playing the game although, they could increase their proficiency in using magic. But he was different. Why? He had a system!
He could gain stats from defeating enemies, and also complete quests. Other people could not do this.
'I feel like I'm cheating.' Josh thought.
Of course, having a system was a cheat. having a system opened numerous possibilities that others could never get. In life some people just have better opportunities.
"Can you use more than one affinity?" Josh asked.
"you have to purchase that option." Sophia replied.
'guess I'll need to find a way to get some funds.' Josh thought.