Well, that had been the most eventful two hours of our lives. Not only did we find that my friend Zac is in the game, but we managed to gather enough herbs to save for tomorrow. I mean, we only used a few potions during our monster-hunting session (well, Kaz used most of them since he spent more time hunting more monsters than I did), but I figured it wouldn't hurt to take my brother's advice to try and level up our other skills, just in case. I don't know if my [Hunting] skills would be helpful, but since I might try taking on the role of a Hunter, I might as well raise my skillset until then.

After we returned to town from our recent excursion, Kaz and I headed over to a nearby inn to rest. Since nighttime occurs for 4 hours, he suggested that we find a place to sleep, in case we wanted to temporarily log out for a few hours. That way, we could not only take a break from playing Isekai for a while, but we could organize our equipment for our later meeting with Z- I mean Arthur at the .

I would’ve preferred to log out in the town square, but Z- I mean, Arthur told us that a temporary log out there would just leave our characters idle and unable to disappear until we completely logged out. Not only that, but other players would also have a chance to use stealing skills to rob us of our equipment and items if we left our avatars out in the open. It’s a strange mechanic, yes, but he does have a point. We had managed to obtain some items that we may use in the near future and there is no way we should get careless and let thieves get away with these well-earned rewards of ours.

So first, we had to rent a room in the inn for us to rest. Now, the currency is different compared to the real-life US dollars we all know, which was obvious since this game took place in a fantasy world. For Isekai Online, it was called [Lapuzi] or [Lapi] for short. Of course, banknotes don't exist in this world, so most of the [Lapi] currency consists of a gold coin with a tree-like symbol in the back. As noticed when we checked our inventories yesterday, we started with 100 [Lapi] and so far, we hadn't sold any of the items we got from killing monsters. Not to mention that I have to pay about 60 [Lapi] to buy an [Alchemy Kit] and some [Empty Bottles] for Kaz. Thankfully, staying in the inn cost us 10 [Lapi] per night, so in total after the payment, we only have about 130.

Back to the inn, as we entered our room, we saw it had two beds, a wooden desk near the window right in front of us, and a small lamp attached near the door. I had to admit, this reminds me of a lot of our room, except without most of the technology we’d lived with most of our lives. Then again, this game is set in a medieval world ruled by magic, so I wasn’t too surprised.

As I set my bow and quiver down near my bed, Kaz rushes to his bed on the right side and begins jumping up and down. "This. Is. AWESOME!!! It reminds me a lot like our bedroom back home!"

"Yeah. But virtual or not, please stop jumping at the bed. We don't want to disturb the other guests."

Kaz then frowns as he stopped jumping. I wish he can jump as much as he wants to in real life, but our mom hates that and we seriously don't want to make her angry. "Anyways, do you want to log out for a while? It’ll be a while before morning here. Plus, we have to watch our health in real life. I seriously don't want a backache from lying down all day."

"I know. But can you give me a few minutes? I need to try making some new potions for later. I know we only used a few of our Healing Potions, but we should at least prepare for the worst." That’s true. Now while I normally would’ve gone on ahead without Kaz, there was a rule that [Guardian Players] weren’t allowed to log out without the players they were watching. It was sort of a pain since I couldn't log out without Kazu, but I neither could nor did I want to leave him alone in an unknown world. Besides, I was curious about what potions he was planning to make, especially when I saw some blue herbs on the table when he was setting up his [Beginner Medicinal Kit].

"And what kind of new potions are you making anyway?"

As I asked this, I notice Kaz put some of those herbs into the mortar and begin crushing them with a pestle. "Nothing much, just a potion that can restore some of my [MP]. It's similar to the [Healing Potion], but the ingredients are very different than the ones I used before."

"Really?" I raised my right eyebrow as I see Kaz then boil a beaker of water over a gas burner and throw most of the crushed herbs into it. "What about the [Shrouded Lily] we found yesterday? Can you make something out of it?"

"I tried to, but it turns out I need to be a higher level to access the potion recipes made by using that herb. I could try making it without the recipe, but I don’t wanna risk losing some valuable herbs in the process."

He has a good point since that plant could kill anyone if they would try to smell or taste it. Which I had to ask again, who in their right mind would put an advanced plant like that in a beginner's field?!

Shrouded Lily aside, I watched my younger brother start to mix the concoction inside the beaker and then transfer it to a new bottle. Once he’s done, he smiled as he gave it to me. "Here it is! What do you think?"

I am curious about Kaz's new creation, so I check the description window above the bottle for more information.

[Mana Potion]

[A basic potion for restoring mana. Recommended for any adventurers.

Effect: Restores 10% of the user's MP.]

"Mana? As in [Mana Points]?" I asked as I took a closer look at his new potion.

"Yeah. They are like [Health Points], except they are used to cast spells and use skills like my [Lightning Bolt]." Oh, I see. Usually, in his tabletop games, mage characters have a limited amount of spells they can use before they have to recharge for a day. And no, I didn't play a lot of video games, you don't need to remind me, I was just something I picked up along the way. "Because of my [Magical Affinity] skill, I have a higher [MP] than yours. However, that doesn't mean I can use a lot of spells in one sitting."

I soon realized what he was trying to say. "So in your case, if you exhaust your [MP], you won't able to cast any more spells until its replenished, correct?"

"Yeah. Which is why I need the [Mana Potions], so I can restore my [Mana] during a battle. Besides, I have low defense, and I can’t wear leather armor like you."

True, most of them prefer brains over brawn when it comes to magic. Because of that, mages have to avoid wearing leather and heavy armor as it can impede their magical abilities if they do. However, I also read in a novel some mages may wear chain mail for extra protection, but I didn't know if that was true for all mages, since the novel had only described a priest wearing one.

"I see. So when we have no time to rest, you can drink some of them to replenish them immediately, correct?"

"Well, I doubt that." I raise my eyebrow when he answered. Was that the point of those potions? “We’re in a virtual reality game and I doubt we could just use them with just a press of a button. Besides, I doubt we could drink them while fighting a monster or casting a spell. Take it from me. I had to stop fighting for a minute just to gulp down a [Healing Potion]."

That’s a good point. Our only controllers for this game were our minds and virtual bodies. Not to mention that [ADVR] had a good track record in simulating actions as if they were in real life. "I see. But those potions seem very useful, especially for me. For now, we have to figure out how we can use them at the right time. It's a matter of trial and error and this is no exception."

"You're right." I can see the smile on his face. Guess that’s one way to make my younger brother happy. "And don't worry about that one. You can keep it in case of emergencies once you got your own skill."

"Good idea." I open up my inventory and stored the [Mana Potion] inside. Hopefully, his words will prove true in the future. "Now come on, the real world awaits."

"All right, just a second!"

Well, I doubt I could wait a second. Due to him having a skill called [Bulk Production], he’s able to create more [Mana Potions] just like with the [Healing Potions]. It only took three minutes, but I was surprised at how he made twenty bottles so fast. Guess his [Alchemy] mastery was much more useful than I thought. In any case, I tapped the [LOG OUT] button as before. However, since we were going back for a few hours, we set it to [Sleep Mode] for three hours. Similar to the sleep mode on a laptop or a handheld game console, we can log out of the game without having to shut it. That way, we can go back to [Isekai] after the allotted time we wanted to rest.

What I didn't know, though, was the [Sleep Mode] was also quite literal, as no sooner had we activate it, our bodies began to feel limp, and I start to yawn. And then Kazu began to yawn, too. Well, it was not a big deal since we laugh about it. It’s already night time and our avatars did need some sleep. So we prepared for bed and I used the HUD to turn off the lamp.

"Night, Wind." That’s weird to hear that in the middle of the afternoon, but then again, I want to go along with it. This world is real enough for my eyes.

"Good night, Kaz. See you back here in the morning."

And with that, I close my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.

Or so I thought. When I opened my eyes, I slowly notice the still on my head. To be honest, it was the most surreal experience I had. If [Isekai Online's] world is real, then I did not doubt that this must’ve been a dream for my game self.

Surreal game aside, I slowly rose from the bed and check the alarm clock near my bed.

[2:39 PM]

It was already afternoon here. I knew that the game had a real-time clock inside, but I figured it was best if we did a double-check the time back here just in case.

"Hayate? Kazuki?"

My eyes widen when I heard that familiar voice. "Y-Yeah, it's open. We just logged out."

As I got out of my bed, I can see my brother removing his from his head, and the door opened and Mom carrying a basket of our clothes.

"I see you two have been having a good time with your father's game." Mom said with a gentle smile as she placed the basket down near our closet.

"Yeah, it was the best! I battled several monsters with my magic, and made several potions for me and Hayate!" Yeesh. Even outside the game, Kazuki’s excitement hasn’t wavered. He even raised his hands while sporting a big smile. I can’t blame him though, the game had kind of grown on me, especially after learning more about it.

"Well, as long as you don’t stay in there too long, especially through dinner. Speaking of which, can you two do me a favor and drop by the grocery store? I ran out of vegetables and I need some more for tonight's meal." Mom approached me and hands me a grocery list. "Besides, I can't let you stay at home all day without some exercise."

I did not react to this as I read the list. But Kazuki groaned, "Aww... Do we have to? We only have a few hours till we get back in ." That was true: time was going by and I had no idea of what could happen if we didn’t return in time, though I wasn't worried one bit.

"We only set [Sleep Mode] for three hours and the grocery store is only a few blocks away from here. We’ll be back before we know it." Having walked there before, I knew it would only take us about 40 minutes to get there, and I always passed by it when I went to school. Sure, taking a taxi would’ve been easier, but just using our legs was easier and cheaper, especially if you own a bicycle like me. Though, it would take a while for Kaz to get used to walking. Just walking home with him from school was not an easy feat for him. "And don't forget, we do need to walk around in the game as well. I don't think [Isekai] have cars and bicycles in their world."

"Hey! They also have horses and broomsticks! Except… they haven’t been implemented in the game yet..."

I just stare at him for a few seconds. Even Mom joined in after hearing his statement.

"Okay, fine. You guys win." Kaz sighed in defeat. I hated to do that to my little bro. But it was for his own good.

"Glad to hear. Be careful out there."

I nodded at Mom as Kazuki and I left our room and prepared ourselves to leave for the grocery store. It isn’t as exciting as that beginner's field in the game, but it’s much safer and there were no monsters anywhere.

God, I did enjoy that game a little too much...

Wind's Masteries

[Archery] Level 5

[Woodcrafting] Level 1

[Swordsmanship] Level 6

[Cooking] Level 1

[Wind] Level 5

[Physical Enhancement] Level 1

[Hunting] Level 4

Kazu's Masteries

[Arcana] Level 6

[Thunder] Level 6

[Wind] Level 5

[Alchemy] Level 7

[Magecrafting] Level 1

[Magical Affinity] Level 5

[Scribe] Level 1