9 Manual Control (2)

Although what Aldrin used to play before encountering the mysterious IDLE Database were all PC games that didn't need any special hardware, he was aware that there exists technology for a Full-Dive Virtual Reality.

It couldn't be called luxury and it never became too popular as one would expect. Simply because of how messy the technology invented for it. There were a lot of apparatuses needed to connect to one's body before one could send their consciousness inside.

Nowadays, Virtual Reality devices are mostly known and used in the field of medicine. It was now an application for medical practices. From what he read before, it could wake up someone from a coma, rehabilitate someone who lost a limb and many more similar applications.

But what Aldrin was experiencing this time wasn't something like that.

There were no apparatuses attached to him, all he remembered was how his consciousness suddenly darkened and before he knew it, he felt like he was being sucked into a whirlpool before eventually falling down from the sky.

"Will I just give up without knowing the truth about what happened or what's this about? I am inside the game… Then I better just play it for now…"

After a few minutes of contemplating this situation, Aldrin finally reached the point of acceptance.

His eyes began moving as he tried to sense what was the difference between watching the Dimensional Clone move by itself inside his monitor and controlling the Dimensional Clone himself.

As soon as his eyes caught sight of a human-sized Worker Ant that was carrying a crumb of something on its back, information about it popped up above its head.

[Level 1 Worker Ant (Difficulty: Normal)]

"It's the same. Now that I'm looking at it in my perspective rather than when I am only staring at it through the monitor, I'm starting to feel the shivers." Aldrin hugged his arms and began rubbing them as if the hairs on his body were standing up.

Unfortunately, he possessed the body of the Dimensional Clone so what he's rubbing was all imaginary.

Following that, he inhaled and exhaled. Although breathing was also quite imaginary given that Dimensional Clone isn't a living being, Aldrin managed to calm himself.

He first hid on a tall grass to gather information at the moment. Remembering what he observed from the Dimensional Clone, he began stalking the Worker Ant that was possibly going back to the colony where it belongs to bring that food back.

As Aldrin waded through tall grasses while avoiding the other insects that were higher in difficulty, he arrived near a clearing.

The place was devoid of any other insects and the Worker Ant that he was stalking would certainly pass by it.

"Weapon, weapon."

Aldrin muttered as his head began scanning his surroundings to look for a suitable weapon.

A while later, he picked up a wooden stick that he deemed harder than steel itself.

Although he's a slacker, Aldrin exercised his body so he's quite confident with his strength.

The problem was… he had no experience in brawling or fighting against someone, more so, fighting a giant insect.

"Calm down, Aldrin. Just copy what your Dimensional Clone did. Aim for the head!"

At the same time as he encouraged himself like that, the Worker Ant finally came out of another tall grass and arrived at the clearing.

Still focused on its task to bring food back to its Colony, it was unaware of the shadowy figure creeping behind it.

"DIE!"

As soon as he arrived at the hitting distance, Aldrin shouted on top of his lungs as he swung the Wooden Stick down with all of his might.

"Shrriiii--!"

The Worker Ant who was squarely hit on its head failed to finish its shriek because Aldrin's second swing came right after the first one.

Using all his strength, Aldrin kept on bashing the Worker Ant's head until it cracked and green slimy liquid seeped out of it.

Compared to when he was just watching it through his computer, the details of the Worker Ant were clearly caught by him.

Aldrin gulped down to prevent himself from puking from seeing that green slimy liquid that was most likely the ant's brain juices as he steeled his resolve to continue hitting it.

A few swings later, Aldrin stopped and immediately gasped for breath as he looked at the two messages floating on the corner of his eyes.

[You killed Level 1 Worker Ant]

[You received 5 IDLE Points]

"I… I killed it." With shaky hands, Aldrin stared at the Worker Ant he killed.

The food it was carrying on its back had already rolled away from the location.

Even though he knew that this was a game, the experience of hitting something until it breaks and the pain on his arm after swinging it nonstop couldn't be denied.

"Calm down. This is a game, Aldrin. It's a totally realistic game. Think about the consequences if you stay here and get caught by another ant."

He could be mistaken as a crazy guy if someone saw him talking to himself like this in the real world. However, this was the only thing he could do at the moment, to keep his sanity.

He had to numb his senses and treat what he's seeing before his eyes as computer-generated images.

Although that was probably not the truth considering he was gaining Dimensional Energy through this game, he had to reach a consensus with himself to face this… game with a broad and clear mind.

After slapping his cheeks hard to feel the pain and wake himself up, Aldrin picked up the wooden stick that he dropped before quickly leaving the clearing to stalk for his next prey.

-

-

Around three hours after being aware that he's inside the game, the shadowy figure of Aldrin could now be seen running for his dear life as flocks of human-sized ants wielding a spear and shields were chasing after him.

"I'm on a roll, dammit! Why did that group of stronger ants suddenly show up?! They aren't alerted in any way!" Aldrin lamented as he looked back once more to check if his pursuers were still behind him.

[Level 5 Soldier Ant (Difficulty: Very Hard)]

[Level 7 Elite Soldier Ant (Difficulty: Impossible)]

[Level 9 Commander Ant (Difficulty: Totally Impossible)]

Seeing their information once more, Aldrin almost choked as he instantly sped up to widen the gap between them.

After that first kill where he forced himself to take everything as a game, Aldrin's performance gradually improved.

With the Wooden Stick becoming his trustworthy weapon, he began to pile up achievements from killing every Worker Ant he encountered.

If at the beginning he was only stalking before ambushing them, Aldrin grew bolder as he began to apply other strategies to catch them with the now-sharpened end of the Wooden Stick.

In less than three hours, he already gathered 300 IDLE Points. He used 60 points to buy the three available power-ups, doubling his attack, speed and armor.

He hadn't received fatal damage yet but… his body was already filled with wounds when some of the ants managed to fight back before they died.

"I have to leave now but this damn game won't allow me to! 'Lose your pursuers' my ass! I'm not in Combat Mode anymore, am I?" Aldrin continued grumbling while his feet never stopped from running away.

At this point, the thought of dying here being connected to reality was already put at the back of his mind. What he's worried about was the penalty of dying wherein his accumulated IDLE Points would be halved.

[Your pursuers gave up chasing after you. Leaving the Dimension is now possible.]

After five minutes of nonstop running, Aldrin stopped in place as he excitedly raised both of his hands in the air.

"Finally! Leave the Dimension. Now!"

As soon as he said that, the same Spiral that dropped him to this place appeared above him. As the feeling of suction began, Aldrin finally heaved a sigh of relief before whispering to himself, "Manual Control is scary. But… It's an exciting experience that I can't deny. Now… the question is… will I wake up in front of my computer or…?"

With that thought in his mind, Aldrin once again felt his five senses being disabled.