The Gamer: Battle Of The Ten Kings

Chapter 1.2

"I must be hallucinating...I need some food." I said looking at my mom.
"Sorry bro, I ate all the pancakes.." Dan interjected.

He started grinning stupidly again. I recovered a little from the shock. Mom went back to the kitchen to do god knows what. I smiled to myself, balled my hand into a fist and got up to beat the shit out of Dan. As I was about to mockingly hit him, I saw something hovering above his head. I stopped and looked at it. The hologram above his head was similar in looks to mine, the same translucent grey background, in a rectangular card like shape with black text. The difference was that of content.

Dan's 'Holo' (Yes, that's what I am calling it henceforth) displayed a few things about him. It read

Name: Daniel A. Smith
'Karate Blue Belt'
Level: Lvl 9
HP: 700
MP: 300

I admit it was visually very nifty looking. Rav, you are seeing things. When I had been actively looking for a job, I had stopped playing games for a while. Now I had gone back to playing them - a lot. You need to stop playing games. They were messing with my mind. Lack of sleep was definitely the problem here.

As soon as I pulled my punch back, the Holo on top of Dan's head disappeared. But the one in front of me wishing me a 'Happy Birthday' was still there. Hmm, interesting.

I shook my head and said to Dan, "Lets go to Starbucks."
"Hey, you wanting to waste money on hot chocolate that you can make at home and look at rich pretty girls is fine with me. It's your birthday!" Dan replied.

"Mooom! I am going out." I yelled grabbing my black leather jacket and my car keys.
"What would you like for lunch?" Mom yelled back.
I peeked my head inside the kitchen on the way out.
"Anything you make is going to be delicious, mom" I smiled. She gave me one of her million dollar smiles in return and Dan and I headed out.

I drove a Mazda 3. I loved my car, compact and efficient.

"Your car still isn't back from the repair shop?" I asked Dan.
"Nah. I'll get it tomorrow."

Wanting to ride shotgun this time, I handed the keys to Dan. If Dan was driving, he was not talking, which meant I had a few precious minutes of silence. Silence was good from time to time. As Dan pulled out of the driveway, I checked the fuel gauge with a glance. The tank was nearly empty.

Suddenly another Holo sprang in front of the one with the greeting. 

New Quest: Fill Fuel
Exp Gain: 5
Cost: 20 $

"What the hell?" I choked out startled.
"What?" Dan asked with panic.
"Okay...Nothing. We need to refuel the car."

As soon as I said 'Okay', the Holo disappeared.

"Come on dude! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Dan said.
"Sorry" I mumbled a very weak apology.
"Are you okay man? You have been acting weirdly since this morning."
"Yeah, it's just cause you ate my share of the breakfast and I am really hungry." I joked trying not to look like I was a lunatic. It worked.
"Thanks," I said, "for the birthday wish.."
As soon as I said thanks, the birthday greeting Holo vanished as well replaced by transparent air.
"You're always welcome, bro." Dan said.

He then went on to talk for a little while about his last breakup, but I wasn't listening. The Holo's were everything that was on my mind. They seemed to work as an interactive interface. And apparently I could communicate with whoever the hell was displaying the Holo's in front of my ruggedly handsome face. Yes, every time I talk about my face, I never fail to mention about my handsomeness. Deal with it.

We refilled the tank and made our way to Starbucks. There was another Holo in the meanwhile that mentioned
Quest Complete
Exp Gain: 5
But I ignored it and it vanished on its own after a few seconds. We entered Starbucks and I stood in line at the counter behind a tall blonde girl. Dan stood behind me for no other reason than to annoy a few other customers. I laughed to myself as Dan did his usual shenanigans.

As I was laughing, the girl in front of me suddenly turned around and bumped into me. Spilling her coffee on my shirt."Oww" She and I both said at the same time.
I looked at her while I used my hands to stupidly try and remove coffee from my shirt. Thankfully the coffee was not hot, but the girl who spilled it was burning my eyes off! She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life. And that is saying something. For some reason I was giving her one of Dan's trademark stupid smiles. That day had been an adventure from dawn till dusk. I was in trouble. I had no idea at that moment.

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Author's note: I know it is a slow start but if you read just 2-3 more chapters you will start to enjoy it...Slow cooked food is the best :) Writing sure takes a lot of effort. Please reward mine with comments. :) Thanks for reading!