Facing Reality

Clerion eyes snapped open, waking up abruptly in cold sweat and shaky hands.

Did he just... die? In his dream?

He remembered that everything around him suddenly became dark and... he died.

He didn't even know what caused his death in his dream, when suddenly he heard an announcement.

Wait... what was that announcement?

A new VR technology?

"The next test will happen after 3 days?"

As Clerion looked around, he found himself in a familiar room.

This was the same 9sqm room where he lived before he started that vivid dream. The same computer he used, the same bed where he slept.

All the things he owned before his transmigration were all here. Nothing changed, even his slightly chubby tummy didn't change.

"Phew, it was all just a dream."

A dream good to be true, living in a game-like world with dungeons and superpowers becoming a common occurrence.

However, as soon as he woke up in his own room, he was slapped hard with this damned reality. His boring and usual reality.

Leaving behind all his thoughts about his dream, he started changing his pajamas with his office uniform.

It was already 7:30 am, he needed to change his clothes soon if he didn't want to get late at his work.

As soon as he changed clothes, he took a taxi. Taking a bus right now was too late, by then he would have gotten a deduction on his salary when he arrived.

Arriving in front of the company he was working for, he immediately took his ID out in order to check in.

However, no matter how much he tried tapping it on the machine, only errors would appear.

"What? Why is an error happening right now?"

As his ID couldn't be read no matter how much he tapped it on the machine, Clerion went to the HR to complain.

"Hello, I get some errors happening every time I tap my ID on the machine. Could you please fix it?"

The employee that Clerion talked to clearly looked at him strangely. Clerion's appearance was too young to be considered an employee, maybe he was an intern.

With such thoughts, the employee proceeded to check the status of Clerion's ID.

However, no matter how much the employee searched on the database, Clerion's information wasn't up there.

"Sorry, but it seems like your information is not in our employee database."

Hearing the words of the employee, Clerion couldn't believe it.

"I clearly worked here yesterday."

The employee could only give a plastic smile. He had checked many IDs before so he knew that Clerion didn't forge his company ID, but if his information wasn't up in the employee's database, Clerion wasn't a recognized worker of the company.

Due to the confusion happening, the employee simply called the manager for help. Hoping that this misunderstanding will be fixed immediately.

When the manager arrived, he looked at Clerion with horror.

"You... Didn't you go missing?"

Hearing the words of the manager, Clerion was baffled. He just dreamed of being transmigrated and now many weird things were happening in his real life.

"I just came to work yesterday. Don't you remember?"

The manager washed his face dry as soon as he heard the words of Clerion.

Clearly he went missing for a whole month and now he had returned looking a bit younger.

"You went missing for a month. When you didn't report yourself for a week, I ordered someone to check on you. I knew you were an orphan and didn't have any close relationship with your relatives. If something happened to you... No one would know."

Hearing the words of the Manager, Clerion suddenly recalled the warm family he got in his dream.

Although he only spent a week with them, those moments were the best he ever got in his whole life.

If only he could return to that world...

Not hearing any response from Clerion, the Manager sighed.

"According to protocol, if you didn't inform us about your leave of more than 15 days, the company is immediately entitled to fire you. Sorry Clerion, but you are not a worker of our company anymore."

Sorry Clerion, but you are not a worker of our company anymore...

Did he just lose his job?

How would he survive from now on if he didn't have any job?

The payment for his food... Bills... Where would he get money to pay them all from now on?

Since he was absent for the whole month without any excuse, most of the company he would apply to would most likely question his integrity and have some doubts on whether to hire him or not.

Going out of the company, he looked at the bustling city in front of him.

Coming from the Isabela Province as soon as his parents died, he chose to apply for a company in Makati City.

He didn't have any lingering feelings as he left his hometown, no one was there to wait for him.

He sold some lands he inherited and bought a Condo Unit that was 3 blocks away from the company he was working for.

After buying the Condo, he didn't have any money anymore. His salary was the only thing that maintained his life style.

Maybe he should return in Isabela and open a small business.

If he sold his condo unit, it would be enough for him to live for a few years without doing anything in Isabela.

With such thoughts in his mind, he started packing his clothes and important things as soon as he arrived in his home.

Looking at the countless boxes in front of him, Clerion knew he wouldn't be able to fit them all in the bus.

Should he hire a moving company? Or just send all his things to Isabela via a logistics company?

Clerion didn't dwell much on it and directly chose the latter. Hiring a moving company was too expensive for him right now, while those logistics companies were much cheaper. Though it will take time for his things to arrive in Isabela.

As soon as he finished talking with the logistics company for a pick-up tomorrow, he went out to eat some dinner.

This would be his first ever meal of the day, while he was packing he didn't took notice of the time.

He didn't take much time to eat out, as soon as the last grain of rice entered his mouth, he paid and left immediately.

For the last time, he took a night walk around Makati. Now, he needed to say goodbye to the City life he lived for the past 5 years.

Arriving at home, he didn't bother to change to his pajamas and directly went to sleep on his bed.

Before Clerion's consciousness faded, he heard another announcement.

[Dear Test Player, you have 47 Hours and 59 minutes to prepare for the next test. Please use the remaining time wisely.]