Unfamiliar Territory

Maria's hard work was being paid off. She was starting to notice that even if she played for a long time in a day, her body was still feeling good. She was only hungry. It was like having intermittent fasting, she just needed to supply her body with nutritious food and she's good to go.

After her game, she went to the kitchen without turning on the lights. The soft light from the outside lamppost was enough to illuminate her home a little. She opened her fridge to make a sandwich. "Huh, what's this?" There was a full meal that was covered in a glass container. As far she knew, it was not there before she logged in the Inheritance Kingdom earlier. She picked up the container then put it inside the microwave oven to heat it up. "I am certain this was from Peter. So good of him."

She sat in her usual place and uncovered the lid of the food. Before eating, she called out loud, "Thanks, Peter for the food!"

"You're welcome!"

She jolted from her seat and dropped her spoon.

The lights went on and Peter walked over. "Why are you eating in the dark?"

"You scared me!"

"If you have switched the lights on, you will find me lying on the couch." He reached out to Maria. "Did you miss me?"

"Why should I miss you?"

"Because I missed you." He pulled her to his arms. "Sorry I didn't call you for the past few weeks."

Maria blushed. "Too close."

"Of course, this is called hugging. And this..." He kissed Maria lightly on her lips. "...is called kissing."

Maria's face reddened. "And this is called get away from me!" She pushed and squirmed away from Peter.

Peter laughed. "So cute." His white polka dot shirt was halfway unbuttoned, so his chest was a bit peeking. His black hair tousled and casual. His face just was so handsome and masculine. "Have you been working out?" He was looking at her body and satisfied with what he was seeing. "Looks good on you. You have some colour on your face, not pale anymore. Was it because you were blushing from our kiss or you're getting healthier?" he teased.

"Getting healthier! Definitely getting healthier. I listened to your advice and started working out." Maria trying to hide her embarrassment from him.

"Oh, that's good to know. Good girl." He walked away. "Have a nice meal."

"Where are you going?"

"In your room."

"Why are you going into my room?"

"Of course, I need to check the capsule, what else?"

"Oh! Yes, go ahead."

He entered her bedroom and closed the door.

Maria shrugged and ate her meal. (Why do you need to close the door?) The next thing Maria heard was his laughter. "Hey! Why are you laughing there?" she shouted.

No answer. He just laughed continuously.

She ran to her room, but the door was locked. "Hey, let me in." She knocked loudly.

Peter opened the door and was still laughing and wiping his tear on the corner of his eye.

"What's so funny?" pouted Maria.

"I can't believe you died due to fatigue. It was hilarious!"

Maria felt embarrassed. "You!" She hit on his arm. "How did you know?"

"There's a playback button on the monitor. I randomly caught that scene."

"Who told you to watch it and laugh at my expense?! I didn't even know that my game is being recorded."

"What?!" he asked innocently. "It was so funny."

"Fine! Laugh all you want. I am changing the passcode of my house tomorrow. You can no longer enter." She strode towards the counter and sat grudgingly. She started to spoon her food to her mouth again while seething. "You are here just for maintenance and not peek on my game, you hear? After all, I paid for renting it!"

"You will have indigestion if you eat like that."

"It's your fault. You're always making fun of me." She pouted.

"Well, I had a high expectation from you when you said you were a gamer. I didn't expect this--" He started to chuckle again.

"Hmph! Your game is on a different level, okay? Obviously, I have been training my body to get fit so I can do better in the game, so do not mock me. That scene was before I started to work out."

"I told you so."

"Get lost!"

He went to the sink and poured water into the kettle. "Do you want some coffee?"

"No, thanks. I am sleeping after this."

"Then, let's sleep together," Peter suggested casually.

Maria coughed as she almost got choked. "Stop spitting nonsense while I am eating!"

Peter patted Maria's back. "I am serious. I want to sleep with you."

"Why you!" She shouted and pushed his hand away from her. "Get out of my house this instant! I will have indigestion because of you."

"Hey, it's not what you think. I just wanted to be with you because I missed you. Let's just cuddle."

"Bastard. I am not sleeping or cuddling with you. Get out!"

"Okay, you win! I will sleep on the couch." He hurriedly went to the couch he was originally occupying and lied down. "By the way, you have a bad habit of sleeping after eating your meal. Change it. It's bad and I mean it."

She hurriedly finished off her food, washed the dishes, and went inside her bedroom. "I am not the least affected by him!" she mumbled repeatedly. When she pacified, she decided to take a walk to burn some calories.

"Where are you going?" asked Peter when he saw her going to the front door.

"I have to change the bad habit, right?" she said curtly.

Peter smiled when Maria left. "At least you are listening to me about your health."

Maria started to fume again when she recalled what Peter did. "That was my first kiss! Aaaarghh!!!!"

***

She woke up late the next day. She failed to attend her training so she called if he could reschedule her workout today. Her trainer agreed to transfer her slot to 6 p.m. "Alright, that's set." She found her breakfast on the kitchen counter. "That smelly rat Peter, although he upsets me all the time, he knows how to butter up. I only rented the capsule but somehow got a chef as well. Come to think of it, it's really not a bad deal." But then she remembered what happened last night. Her face became hot and red again and started to be angry again.

Maria planned her day in the game. She should be able to make a mana coagulation pill today. She would teach Ashtan to pick mid-grade ingredients first. "But what will I do with the crack? I don't even know what's in there." She decided to look it up in the forum.

She typed: What could cause mana to be drained?

Result: A mind drain skill. A sorcerer's skill where mana will be drained for 60 seconds and the player cannot use any skills.

(That's not it.) She searched again. There shouldn't be any time limit. But there was also no result. She also inquired about curses. But all of them are just timed curses.

"What could be it?" She searched the web instead of generic answers. "Hmmm...this is interesting. An artifact. Could it be an artifact inside that pit? Should I ask Peter about it? No, no. He already said he would not help. And there's no fun if I ask instead of finding out for myself. I need to go and check later."