Chapter 2: 2
When Draco woke up, he realized that his head was throbbing painfully . Cursing darkly, he got up and checked his surroundings, expecting to see his expensive suite . What he saw instead, was a ramshackle room that looked like it could barely house a family of rats, much less a human being .
Blinking with surprise, he looked at his chest sharply . No wounds . Just a scrawny body that looked like it could barely take a punch from a child, which was the opposite of the power packed form he was used to .
Despite this different scene from what he expected, the sense of familiarity did not escape him . He knew this place and he recognized this body . This was his home and himself from 15 years ago, when he was a cowardly young man who could barely afford to feed himself .
He picked up his brick phone and checked the time – 7:00 am, 21/03/2065 . Despite his calm outward appearance, his mind was reeling from this . This date meant that Boundless would be launching in exactly five hours . Shops selling the basic game helmet for the Boundless servers would close in less than three hours .
His memories of the past which had been blurry, become crisp and clear . These memories were after all, fresh and recent in the mind of this body . Yet, he could also remember everything beyond this date as easily as one with perfect eidetic memory would .
He remembered that he had painstakingly saved every scrap of money for the two years Boundless had been announced and was in closed alpha and beta, starving himself in bursts to gather enough to buy the most basic helmet .
Since he had very little time, he decided to follow his past self's actions and purchase the helmet before closure . He walked out of his attic-like bedroom and washed up under his leaky shower which only shot out icy water . Shrugging the discomfort away was easy for the current Draco, while his old self used to spend 10 minutes alternating parts of his body under the shower in order to get used to it . After cleaning himself, he put on his outgoing shirt and wore some summer shorts and slippers before heading out .
Walking along the boulevard, he was forced to look at the filthy surroundings of this underdeveloped area that existed on the outskirts of town . Despite the progression of society in the area of technology – or perhaps, because of it – nothing had really changed . The poor were getting poorer and the richer were getting richer . While Draco wasn't yet at the bottom rung, he wasn't that far off . Thanks to the leftover insurance money from his deceased parents, he could afford to keep off the streets .
Even though this part of town was indisputably shitty, there was still some level of patronage, so it didn't take him long to reach a small outlet store with a blue banner stating "Get your FIVR helmets for Boundless here with a basic starter's package for $300!!!"
Still, he didn't head into the shop, rather waiting for a certain event to occur . In less than thirty seconds, four familiar faces emerged from the corner . The moment these fellows locked onto him, they started snickering meanly .
The leader of them, an ugly rotund fool by the name of Jarko, walked up to Draco while his man tits shook the heavens and earth . "Well, well, if it isn't the Draco the cowardly dragon . What are you doing here? Coming to donate money to us so we can start our guild? Oh gee golly, how kind of you . "
The three skinny and ugly fools behind him took their cue to snigger . Rolling his eyes, Draco sighed . In the original scene years ago, he had been stammering and shaking, eventually being beaten and extorted . The shopkeeper had taken pity on him and loaned Draco a used helmet that was for beta testers in order to play the game .
However, Draco decided to rewrite the script for this scene . In the years to come, he would remember this day as the moment when the God of Chaos who threw him into the past had achieved the foundations for his goal .
"Piss off Jarko, your stink is clogging my nose . What I'm here to do is none of your fucking business, shitbag . "
Draco's reply was met with silence . Not even in their wildest dreams did these four idiots expect him to retaliate to their provocations . Draco could choose to walk by them and let this matter blow off, but he had a different idea . With a dark smirk, Draco sent his fist flying into the guts of the fat fool before him, which made them all gasp . Talking back was one thing, suddenly attacking was another . Just what had this dude eaten that made him so ballsy?
"This is for all the times you bullied me, cowtits . "
However, tubby didn't fall over in pain . With a surprised grunt, he realized that the fist he thought would hurt him actually did nothing at all . The moment he and his lackeys came to this realization, their previous fear and alarm blew off as they burst into laughter .
Draco didn't make any other move, simply smirking coldly while gazing upon them as one would an insect . This act made the bullies cut their laughter as they grew angry at this scrawny fellow's scorn .
"Alright Draco, I'll give it to you, you've finally grown some balls . But clearly, they're far too small to… to… urgh… . ARGGHGHHHHH!!"
Tubby's words cut of the moment he started talking too much, realizing that every word he spoke brought exponentially increasing pain to his chest and abdomen area . At the current level, he could barely remain standing and fell to the floor, gasping and shrieking in pain which further increased the ferocity .
The faces of the mindless fools behind him turned white as a sheet from the sounds their boss was making . This wasn't the normal level of agony, this was advanced torment . He wouldn't sound out of place in a terrorist torture video as a victim right now .
Turning to face the other three, Draco spoke slowly but dangerously . "You have 10 seconds to give me every single dollar you have on your body otherwise you'll end up worse than him . He's only enduring 50% of the pain thanks to his fat body . You skinny fools will have to bear it all . "
"Choose wisely . The countdown starts now . "
The coward inside them reared its ugly head at this moment, as they clamored over each other to drop every single penny they had on them, including what Jarko possessed . Without wasting a second, they dragged the tub of lard away hurriedly, casting fearful looks at Draco as if he would change his mind and attack them .
Scoffing, he entered the outlet store to purchase the helmet, but was met with a surreal scene . The cashier, who was a college girl working part time, was trembling like she had been shocked with electricity . Draco had a good impression of her since she had been very kind to him in his past life, so seeing her terrified of him made him feel awkward .
Sighing, he decided to try and fix things lest it escalate indirectly . "Sorry about that . Those boys have been beating me up for the past two years and I always took it quietly . Recently, a martial master decided to teach me a few moves, which I used on them, as you saw . If I didn't, well…"
He let her finish the thought in her mind and she realized that four against one would have ended a lot worse than what had just occurred . With that in mind, she regained composure, but still watched him warily . "What do you need, sir?"
"I'd like to purchase the Boundless helmet," Draco replied with an easygoing smile . Seeing this, she let go of her wariness as her occupational demeanor fully returned .
"Excellent, sir . That would be $200 . Would you like to purchase a package as well?"
Draco leaned on the counter easily and pretended to be deep in thought . "What are the available packages?"
"Well sir, we have the basic package which includes two potions of the health, mana and stamina type, a common weapon of each type which can be resold in-game and a basic kit of the light, medium and heavy categories . This would be $300 just for today . After today, it will move to $1000 . "
"There's the advanced package which includes everything in the basic package with the inclusion of three basic tradeskill books that the player can select in-game . There is also the option for a player to choose between basic crafting resources to start off your trade career without having to grind! This is the optimal package for those who want to double as lifestyle players . This package is priced at $500 for today, but will be $1200 for newcomers after tomorrow . "
"The final package is the Master one . It includes everything in the two packages mentioned earlier as well as some rare resources, two rare weapons of your choice and three combat skill books that are uncommon . This package is recommended for veteran players who are looking to build an empire in-game . This package costs $700 and will rise to $1500 after today . "
Draco already knew about all this, but he still paid close attention to see if there were any changes . Seeing as they were none, he contemplated his choices .
I came here with $200 which should have been taken, but I managed to keep . After beating around those fools, I got an additional $1700 since they all planned to buy the basic package while the fat idiot was targeting the advanced one . That means I can buy the master package as well as some basic necessities to carry me until I can profit off boundless .
Draco's brain was alive with rapid fire thoughts, plans being hatched and choices predetermined . Upon reaching a conclusion, he decided to follow the most powerful path, the one that would bring him into opulence long before the date he achieved in his previous life .
"I'll take the master package and three 3rd grade NuSmoothies . Here's the money," he said, removing $1500 and handing it over to the cashier .
After processing everything, Draco left the outlet store with his new helmet and three small flasks of the precious NuSmoothies, which were extracted nutrients that were of an optimal balance to increase muscle mass, general fitness and lifespan . He had only gotten to taste this wonderful elixir after a good seven years last time round .
When Draco entered his bedroom, he didn't immediately tear open the box and jump into the game . After all, it was launching in roughly four hours' time .
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