Lucien stared at his friend.
Knowing Halo—or Harun, as he often liked to call him since that was his legal name—he was both jovial and comical, yet equally shrewd and cunning.
Lucien hadn't wanted to come here, but Halo was his only friend. Well, technically the only friend who, despite Lucien's cold detachment from society, had never walked away.
He was left with no other choice. And now that Harun was presenting him with such a dilemma, he found himself backed into a corner once again.
His credit cards were frozen solid. He could sell his phone, as Harun suggested, and pocket decent money since it was custom-made rather than mass-produced like other models.
But in the long run, he needed a way to survive on his own. He didn't want to work or do anything demanding—his father's eyes would track his every move.
However, in the game...
Getting into Evolution Online meant escaping his father's watchful gaze. He could drift through life and finally claim the peace he craved. The only snag was that living inside a game still felt slightly wrong, though the idea already hooked him.
The truth was, Evolution Online was everywhere, so Lucien had caught whispers about it here and there but never really listened.
It was like another world people were moving their entire lives into. They said even real-life resources could be scanned and used in the game—though there were limits to that feature. But the point was, it truly was boundless, as Harun claimed. No reason for him to reject it, especially if it could give him the life he wanted.
Lucien exhaled and spoke flatly.
"I don't exactly want farmland, so..."
"Done!"
Harun cut him off before he could finish.
He jumped up and let out a breath.
"I have some NSI packs left over. I'll lend you those so you can test-run the world and see for yourself. But before we start any of that... please, my friend, I'm begging you—go to the bathroom and scrub yourself clean."
Lucien exhaled and slowly stood up. He was about to leave but stopped and turned back.
"Say... you keep throwing around 'NSI' like I'm supposed to know what it means?"
Halo's eyes went wide.
"Oh my days! The great genius prodigy doesn't know what NSI means?"
Lucien stared at him with a blank expression.
Halo chuckled and answered.
"NSI is Nutrition Supplement Injection. It's a feeding system that pumps nutrition into your body without eating, so you can stay in your Capsule for months without stepping out. The Capsule also runs health checks and has built-in first aid procedures. It can even knock you into induced comatose if you face any dangerous or shocking situation, and during that coma, your mind would still be in Evo."
Lucien's face twisted with disbelief.
"What?"
His friend nodded with a bright smile.
"Insane, right? Well, I'm telling you—it's a whole other world."
Of course, in their age, such technology wasn't impossible. It was just mind-blowing that so much was poured into a game. Perhaps it really had grown beyond what gaming used to be.
Lucien finally exhaled and said with an even tone.
"Please take me to the lavatory."
***
After a few dozen minutes of thorough washing, Lucien stepped out of the steamy compartment of the washroom. He took the white towel folded on a sleek matte black drawer, dried his body, and by chance caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
His grey hair clung damply to his forehead, framing a face that looked carved from cold light. Not perfection—no, something sharper. As if he were sculpted to be beautiful only so others would bleed trying to reach him.
His eyelids hung low, half-closed in a gaze that hovered somewhere between disdain and detachment. There was an edge to his stare, subtle but undeniable, like the glint of frost on a blade's curve. Beneath them, those eyes—those storm-grey eyes—stared back without flinching, as if daring the reflection to lie.
It was no surprise how flawless he was in his looks. As a child, he had starred as a model on several occasions. People would often say he took his father's gentle handsomeness and his mother's fierce beauty, bringing out the best of what the mix could offer.
Even his sister, who was nearly as beautiful as their mother, seemed plain when placed next to him.
Everything about him was perfect, and yet... he felt so imperfect, so empty. It was a subtle feeling he had learned to bury, but it had always been there since childhood.
Nothing in this world could make his heart race. He had tried everything, but nothing worked. Not dating the most beautiful girl in the world—a goddess in mortal flesh. Not becoming the best at what he did. Not being born rich. Not even sleep and endless laziness.
Lucien sighed and pushed the rest of the thought away.
'I may be asking for too much. Let's just settle in there and sleep for the next twelve hours.'
He wrapped the towel around his body and slowly walked out of the bathroom.
After he was done, he wore a white oversized sweatshirt and black track pants that fit perfectly with his frame.
Halo took him to the room where the gaming Capsule waited, and in the center of a bland, olive-themed room sat a sleeping beast—sleek, silent, and predatory in its elegance. It didn't look like a machine so much as a concept car sculpted from a dream—its body was a seamless curve of silver alloy and carbon-forged panels.
Halo took a clean towel and carefully wiped the edges of the Capsule. A moment later, he pressed the main button on the right side.
Immediately, with a hiss and sigh, the canopy—a single translucent dome—lifted, revealing a cockpit that looked borrowed from a starfighter. Padded in adaptive memory gel and wrapped in a support lattice, the interior cradled the user like a throne built for gods. Modular interface pads lined the armrests, touch-reactive and linked to the nervous system. Holographic UI nodes floated mid-air, waiting for a gesture, a glance, a thought.
Halo looked at Lucien and smiled.
"This, I call an old beast. I filled it with the extra NSI I have while you were washing. It can last you up to three months."
Lucien studied the Capsule with a blank expression. Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Halo with a slight frown.
"What if I need to use the toilet?"
Halo smiled smugly.
"Well, there's an engineered neural network that tricks your body in that regard. The update of that particular network works hand in hand with the NSI duration. So you're not gonna pee for the next three months. Of course, unless you leave before then. Also, if anything goes wrong outside here, the in-game system will alert you. As a matter of fact, my own system is built into my household security, so if anything happens in my house, I'll know. I can even turn off the lights, shut windows and doors of my house from inside the game."
Lucien forced out a pale smile.
"Wow... okay... I guess I am a little intrigued."
Halo smiled and folded his arms.
"Don't worry, you won't be disappointed. Now hurry up and get in."
Lucien slowly entered the pod and sat down, laying his back comfortably. Then slowly the translucent dome lowered and closed with another hiss.
He sighed as he closed his eyes. A gentle helm of wires slowly lowered itself onto his head. And inside his mind, he heard a clear, mechanical, and soothing feminine voice.
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