I woke up to a System Message. I was expecting the third part of the quest, so I knew what was coming.

  I knew a lot of people were probably panicking about the whole non-permanent death thing. If anyone else had made a simulation-type crystal, they’d figure it out quickly enough. Still didn’t make it any less unsettling.

  I told myself I’d wake up early and start learning how to fight a Level 7 Kobold.

  But I totally overslept.

  …

  …

  Okay, fine — I didn’t oversleep.

  I just didn’t feel like learning to fight terrifying kobolds today.

  The truth was simple: I felt overwhelmed and tired.

  Day 23. Almost a month of this new world. I needed a sick day.

  Sure, I still had to kill a Level 6 Kobold for my daily food package, but I wasn’t planning to give it my best effort. Today wasn’t about progress. Today was about not losing my mind.

  Maybe I’d walk around. Maybe I’d waste a Transformation Shard on something pointless just to see what happened. I’d already made my Entertainment Crystal — that was yesterday. Tomorrow would be for the quest. The day after that? Learning how to not die to a Level 7 Kobold.

  Today?

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  Bare minimum.

  After eating and showering, I stepped outside and drifted along the barriers, tracing the edges of the hexagons where we hadn’t met anyone yet.

  I didn’t expect to run into someone but… I decided to give it a chance.

  A store caught my eye — a thrift shop. I remembered how popular they used to be online, with people making videos about finding rare treasures or sprucing things up.

  Sprucing…? I paused. Is that even the right word?

  Close enough.

  Inside, the place was packed. I’d never been in a store like this before, and I honestly didn’t know where to look first. My eyes darted everywhere at once.

  I kept my hands to myself — the last thing I needed was the System hitting me with a debuff.

  “Ooh… my granny made one like this.”

  The quilt I stopped in front of was faded, worn soft by time, but the love stitched into it was unmistakable. My grandmother had made one for each of her children, then each grandchild.

  I smiled, and the ache of missing her hit harder than expected.

  There were so many things I recognized — old décor, knickknacks, tools — but I stopped when I reached the board games. We didn’t play them often, but every now and then my mom would pull them out, and we’d spend an afternoon arguing our way through Monopoly or Scrabble.

  I felt my throat tighten.

  I was getting emotional… but honestly? That was fine. I needed a sick day, and if nostalgia wanted to punch me in the face, I wasn’t going to fight it.

  I wandered a bit more and stopped in front of a stack of blank hardcover journals. They weren’t truly vintage, but they were made to look vintage — textured covers, stitched spines, soft muted colors.

  I had never been a journal person. I barely used paper at all before the System. But somehow… I wanted one.

  Wanted something to hold.

  Wanted something real.

  I wanted a place to dump everything in my head — the fear, the anger, the confusion, the small victories. A place that wasn’t a System screen.

  So, I took off my shirt — better safe than triggering a debuff — and picked up two journals… then went back and grabbed a third. Why not.

  Next, I hunted for a bag. Eventually I found a vintage leather messenger bag. It was beautiful, worn in all the right places, full of character. It looked like the kind of bag an adventurer might carry in a movie.

  Perfect.

  I claimed it and continued to look for a pen. I found an old beauty and again was amazed at my enthusiasm.

  I laid them on the counter and took out a rare upgrade shard.

  “Yes.”

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  first Royal Road chapter of each pair. The second one won’t have pictures. If you want to see all the art together (or earlier), it’s on Patreon with the combined chapters!