The air, the breezing wind, the atmosphere... It's like... A city. No shit.

  But, not the kind you would find by simply parading about the big urban cities. The circulating air gave this tingling sense of warmth throughout my body. Not enough to fight the cold clear night entirely, but good enough to my liking.

  My eyes roll around, burying the image of the surrounding scenery near my new apartment to my mind, deeply ingraining it. Learning the new environment of my home is important, after all. So then I can be the tiger that knows its territory, if I'm ever being chased like those people in action movies that is. Oh god, I hope that's not a jinx word. And while I was strolling around, a bit of my heart was questioning everything that had just unfolded in my life. Taken to another world, and was brought upon it inside another man's shoes, my face an unfamiliar one to my own eyes. It was... A peculiar event. I regret not much out of it, but I was hoping to be dropped in this new world with my own body, not someone else's! Of course, because of that, what was once his, was now mine to own. And what was once mine, was probably being taken care of by mom, or dad, could be both of them, I won't lie.

  A 30-minutes stride had given me a good grasp on the city I will spend the rest of my life in, the city I am residing in.

  Hanilton, an ugly name to be honest, is a city where the nighttime activities is where the city thrives in. It seems so to me. Night clubs, bars, and parties on open-but-private area was spotted here and there. I caught smell of a grilled rare steak while passing by a silent suburb several minutes ago. It was barbeque. Whoever's on one of the backyards, they're having the night good for sure. Few people were passing by here and there, and various vehicles too, less plenty than the pedestrians. It may looked like the city's having a sleep and most of its citizens are down in their beds. But I can assure anyone that, the city's after hours' quietness isn't because of people skipping the night. Unusual, intriguing nonetheless.

  From enough observation, I conclude that these activities are isolated and only conducted indoors. If it's a party, then it will be thrown on areas where the general people living there isn't too disturbed by the party. I saw one happening close to a cafe where I bought this cup of cappucino. Some of them partygoers were half-drunk and the others in less similar state. Plentiful younglings, near my previous age. Might be university students. I was not expecting much from them besides the thought of them going to doze off on the hard ground sooner or later. And with a cappucino, I came out of the cafe and walked past them. Color me surprised when one of them suddenly got in my way and offered me a booze. Cheap, but the pal liked it, it seems. His breath stinks though. I tried denying the offer, to no avail. The man insists that I sit down and have a drink. Clearly, he's not going to let me be until at least I drink with him. I asked if I can take the booze and drink it back home, to which he responded with ease. "Oh, don't avert it like that! 's if I don't know that you're gonna hole yourself up in there. Come on now, 'sn't it lonesome to be drinking by yourself? Heh. Hhhk! Don't tell me you made a ghost a friend to share this with." I'm not one to love deception, but I feel like I'm justified to lie my way out, in this situation at least.

  I didn't, though. I could lie all I want, but that would've been quite harsh of me. And there's definitely better ways to get out of this unfavorable situation.

  The guy's drunk, obviously. As evident as the stars above us. And fortunate enough, he's on the verge of sailing to the dream island. So, a simple trick should get me out of his sight without making me feel a slight guilt in my metaphorical heart. I told him that I'd join him if he accepts a challenge. That is, to drink half the content of the booze he's holding with me. We did just that. He fetched two empty cups and poured half the booze to each cups. He drank his, I drank mine. Put a quotation mark on the "drank" part. I didn't drink it, I just made it looked like I was drinking it. Then, once he's done, I put a hand on his shoulder while hiding the full cup behind his back, carefully balancing it so as to not spill a single drop of it. His eyes flickered, seeming like he's trying to stay awake, but going to fail. I whispered in his ear, telling him that if he walks back to where he was before, I'll be with him in a minute. And so, he trudged back, only to collapse and off to the dream land. I put the cup not far from him and left the vicinity.

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  What an encounter. Makes me want to see less of them and hurry back to the apartment.

  And now, on an intersection, I have found my new destination: The internet cafe across the road, if the neon sign isn't enough giveaway. Been a while since the last time I saw one. I wonder if it has good PCs with good rigs. I sauntered there and entered. It was a comfy place. There were air conditioners, heaters, and the floor is spotless. There were rows and rows of cabins with doors closed. Some of them has a red highlight on their knobs, while some others are green. Are these like those internet cafes in Japan? The ones with sleeping quarters in it? Interesting. I've never been in one of those. Let's try it out for an hour.

  I went to the receptionist and asked the cashier for a room to play. He asked me back, which kind of cabins do I want to pay for? The Quarters? Or the normal ones? And of these two, which types of cabins do I want to choose? Regular? Deluxe? Or maybe Platinum?

  With a raised brow, I questioned. "Could you elaborate? I'm a first-timer."

  The guy was startled, bit of confusion displayed on his brows. "New to this place? I thought we've done stupendous amount of marketing. Well... For the normal rooms, Regular's a regular. Three Hicks an hour. You get a room and a standard FB. Deluxe is... An upgrade of regular. Just think of adding a nicer bed to lay down and a better FB above what the regular gives you, also one free drink. And the Platinum is basically a gamer's dream come true."

  "Dream come true? How so?"

  "Y'know, top-tier FB and all its accessories attached?"

  "Still don't get it."

  "No one disturbing at all, even if you order a meal, and no lag even if you're playing on a server located somewhere on the other side of Earth?"

  "How much?" Money's already on the counter, laid down by me with the Sleight of Hand trait.

  The cashier shoved back, eyeing the money suddenly appearing before him. A hint of understanding shown on the tug of his grinning lips, like a gamer knowing another gamer's interest. You know what the f*ck I'm here for.

  "Platinum's 10 Hicks an hour. That's already including a free full meal. And I can assure you, you're gonna have the time of your life playing in Platinum cabins." He said, dragging a few sheets of money from the counter into the drawer on the right side of the counter. The rest of the money were pushed towards me. "And since you're a fresh bird here, I'll give you ten percent discount for an hour of gameplay. You're testing if this place's worth your time, don't you?"

  My face brightens, showing a smile of uncontained joy. I'm already liking this place. Added with the most fun-to-talk guy, I feel like I'm gonna visit this place often just to chat with him.

  I grab the Hicks and keep it. "Thanks man, appreciate it." I lift a hand to the chest-level, inviting a dab. Not even a second later, he dabs me heartfully.

  "You too, bro. Room 213."

  Room 213?

  "See ya in an hour."

  I left the front door area and went to search, going to the long corridor on the left. Far in the corridor, I hear his shout. "Have fun!" Which I reply with a thumbs up. I rarely see the enthusiastic people like him. Passionate about something they love and wanting to help ease anyone's access to said thing he's passionate about.

  On the side of every cabinet doors', a number is plastered. Ranging from number 1, located near the reception, to... The end of this long corridor, which is cabinet number 99 and 100. No, I'm serious. It's that long. And each of the cabins are of the size of a 3 by 3 room, based on the total size of the doors and the gap between each doors. Each corridors seems to have 50 cabinets, meaning the staircase on the end of this corridor should lead to higher floors. Then that means... Each floor has 100 cabinets. That's a lot to my standard. And my room being 213 could only prove that there's a third floor of this internet cafe. Holy. I never thought an internet cafe would have this many slots. Usually, it'd be around 40, 100 at max. Not 300 slots of PCs to be used by people. Are internet cafes a popular place in this world? Might be.

  Climbing up the staircase, I can see the second floor being full of cabinets, leaving two separate corridors with rows of cabinets on both sides and a passage connecting the two. There are guards stationed on the floor, watching over the corridors while eating a donut on the job. Geez, even a guard is hired. Third floor is the same. And quickly, I arrived at my room. Opening it gives me a breathtaking view of the room. For gamers, at least. It looks cozy too.

  A white-colored futon with the motives of Sakura flower perfectly put on the ground, tidy. A premium massage chair to the left, one exuding a feeling of elegance. A monitor sat on top of a long floating desk that comes with two drawers. A black headset lie besides the monitor along with a mice, I see. And a... Circle-shaped object with flat surface near the headset. What?

  Hmm... Might be a popular item of the future. Oh well, I'll see what it can do, soon.