Versatile: Alternate World

I took different jobs that can earn money every day. I even have to get a driver's license much earlier in order to be able to take a job that involves using vehicles and deliveries. Part-time jobs earn barely earn much so I also need to look for good jobs online that can pay big. I wanted to do lotto so that I can easily pull money to buy the Reality Verse but alas, I spent most of my time playing Alternate World that I didn't even look at the numbers of the lottery. Even if I have seen them, I doubt I am paying attention to their date. If I knew that I would be able to go back to the past, I would have used the chance to memorize some of them and exploit them to my advantage and use them once I get back. But it's too late for regret.

The whole year is a bit quiet. Although I get the occasional calls from my parents, the closest friends of mine seem to be out of the country for the year and have no contact with me yet. If I remember correctly, they will be back a few more months later. That whole year is the quietest and peaceful time I got. In the past timeline, I spent the entire year playing all of the offline games saved on my PC and finishing them all before the Alternate World came in. I don't need to replay them since I already have most of the experiences I have done on the games inside my mind, but it won't hurt to play once in a while if I am bored after work.

...

The day of the Reality Verse Release has finally arrived. I know I already crossed the 5 million yen check but I didn't check it to allow me to continue earning money to feel that I am still not on the safety net. Checking my bank account, I felt satisfied the moment I saw the 6 million yen on my bank account. It took me a year's worth of part-time jobs and some odd jobs that pay a little bit bigger than expected and some other things but the feeling of satisfaction of earning this much and seeing the actual number is quite amazing. The fact that I managed to surpass the 5 million yen and earn an extra 1 million yen is quite an achievement for me especially since I didn't earn it by playing the game where it is easier to earn this much, but I earned it by working hard.

Now that I think about it, I am going to start fresh in the game and this time, it is much earlier than before. Also, I can proudly say I am a veteran of the game already even if it hasn't been released just yet. I can utilize my Eidetic memory to remember some things I know in the past timeline, but I shouldn't rely on it too much especially since I already changed quite a lot of things after coming back. It is obvious something will also change in the future so not all of my memories will be solid to follow.

Today is the big day and the day to spend all of my hard work and reap the fruit that I planted. I better get there as early as possible before I ran out of stocks. Knowing that they will run out of stocks the moment they open, it's better to get there before they do, or else my plan is ruined.

I woke up early for this purpose. After checking the balance on my bank account, I checked the time to ensure I am still not late. It's 3:00 A.M already. It might be too early but if you are buying a limited stock on something, or if you just wanted to finish much earlier, then going there much earlier is the only choice. I quickly cook my food using the only ingredients in my fridge. The good thing is that I still inherited the ability to cook which allowed me to use a small number of ingredients and still managed to get a hearty meal in the end.

It's still pretty early but I need to go to the Reality Verse Company building. The line gets pretty long if I don't hurry. I might be getting paranoid but that's just how it is even back in the day. Thankfully, I don't need to go to the bank to withdraw money as they will just deduct the amount of money in your bank account that you will be linking to your game account. After all, if you want to sell or buy something or even convert the in-game currency into real money, you will need your bank account to do that.

...

After my preparations are done, I grab the motorcycle I have bought before to use in my deliveries. If I didn't buy this one, I would be using a bicycle which would be much slower than the motorcycle. The company is not that far but if the line is too long, it will take me ages before I arrive. After wearing my grey hoodie shirt, and my black pants and black shoes which are my usual uniform for deliveries, I am ready to go. I crank the engine of my motorcycle before heading to the Nexus Company.

...

With the speed of my motorcycle, it only took me around 4 minutes from home to reach my destination. It was still empty since the opening time is still at 7 in the morning but I know once the people line up there, it would be chaotic already before the opening time. Parking my motorcycle in the parking lot nearby, I started to line up on street. I don't care if people think I am weird while lining up here so early in the morning, no one can stop me from obtaining the first reality verse.

There might not be people lining up beside me but I can tell that there are already some people who have camped to buy the Reality Verse last night in their vehicles or have decided to stay in hotels near the company. It was a rule by the Nexus company to only line up until the very day of the launch or else, they will be banned to buy. therefore, they decided to camp out. They are just waiting for anyone who dares to go before they will also proceed to buy the machine itself.

It's still pretty quiet and pretty desolate of anyone around but it's not a big problem even for me as I spent quite a long time alone in the wilds and dark dungeons in the past. But that quiet and desolate atmosphere of the street is gone as someone along with two people currently walking straight to where I was.  I couldn't properly see her and the bodyguards due to the reason that it is still pretty dark and I lost my enhanced eyesight after I returned to this young body.

When they got near, I finally saw who it was. It's a girl wearing a striped shirt and skinny jeans. She is well proportioned in every aspect and she is pretty. She might be a real catch to become a girlfriend but unfortunately, I don't see her as my type and I don't plan to get someone as my significant other anytime soon. Of course, that would not be Akari as I already know she is a backstabbing b*tch who is after my life.

As for this girl, she is Harmless Sparrow, or to be exact, Rika Tsukinara. She is a Magic Knight that has ascended to the class' magic oriented path, Sorcerer Knight in the past timeline. She is the guild leader of the guild, Blue Sky. Since she is here first, then it means that she is the first person to nab the Reality Verse in the past timeline.

She was surprised when she saw someone else besides them standing in front of the Nexus Company.

"Wow! Someone is much earlier than me!" Rika looked at me with surprise.

"Uh... is there a problem?" I asked.

"Nope, nothing at all. But it was a rare occurrence for someone to beat me up in terms of the earliest person in every aspect. I have never been late before but no one has beaten me to the earliest spot." Rika said.

"...Uh...sure..." I nodded.

We party up once in a while especially in some dungeon raids in the past timeline but other than that, nothing much. We didn't even have that much many communications in reality and in the game but we meet a few times in the real world during an Arena Contest and faced against her from time to time if she didn't get defeated by her enemy.

We didn't talk much and she just do her usual business and currently, she is fiddling with her Holophone. Now that I think about it, once I get enough money, I will have to upgrade my smartphone into a Holophone soon.

"Eh? Two people? I did not expect two would arrive here too early!" a lively but old voice suddenly started to talk behind us, causing every one of us to get caught off guard. The bodyguards of Rika immediately block their bodies in front of Rika to protect her from potential harm.

"Relax, relax. I am here to open the entrance. You guys must be here to buy the product huh? Pretty good, young people nowadays should do so to finish the job much earlier," the old man chuckled as he opens the shutter covering the main entrance of the Nexus Company.

Although this old man seems like a random employee of this building, he is not someone to be messed with. This old man is none other than Nobuhiko Kasaguchi. The partner that Tojiro Akisame has while making the game Alternate World designed the Reality Verse. It's kind of unexpected for him to be personally opening the entrance as he rarely shows up in front of the public's eyes.

"Eh? Is it wrong?" Rika asked.

"Of course not! You two are pretty lucky! You two availed to get our promo immediately!" Nobuhiko said as he smiled at us.

"Promo?" I asked with a frown on my face. This is the first time I heard of such a promo.

"Yes. Promo, you two are here to buy Reality Verse right? Then you two will be able to avail of the machine much earlier! And what is more, it's for free!" Nobuhiko smiled.

Wait, for what? Free? Why is it not mentioned in any forums and other forms of media-sharing websites? I never expected to hear the holy word in buying products and other things. This is the Reality Verse we are talking about. I spent a million yen in buying my own Reality Verse after borrowing from rich bastards and earning in the game that I still regretted doing to this day.

Rika was surprised but she immediately changed her reaction from surprise to excitement. She excitedly looks at Nobuhiko hearing the word "free."

"Really? It's free? Without paying a single yen?" Rika asked.

"Yes, not a single yen. You two arrived early so you two would be considered as the lucky first customers of ours! Come, let's get in and process the transaction immediately," Nobuhiko grinned and opened the glass doors wide.

We entered the hall and Nobuhiko led us to the staff room then straight to the laboratory where the Reality Verse is being developed. I only visited this place when I got the upgraded version of the Reality Verse when they released it since it is no longer the cabin version which is what I am going to buy that ended up as free.

"Welcome to the Reality Verse Nexus Facilities. Since the two of you are our first customers, you two will be the first people to get the tattoo version of the Reality Verse," Nobuhiko spread his arms as he showcased all of the techs behind him in making the Reality Verse.

"Tattoo Version? There is such a thing? How come we didn't hear it? I thought its a capsule cabin!" Rika was confused.

"Indeed, it was a capsule cabin, but we already have the finished product of the portable version of the Reality Verse. We call this, the Nexus version of the Reality Verse. We had proven and tested it. The two of you will be the two lucky people that get to earn the tattoo the earliest. The capsule cabin is the prototype and people need to use it for a month before switching to tattoo," Nobuhiko explained.

That escalated quickly. A direct upgrade from cabin to tattoo? And it's fricking free? It's not something I have heard before! Did things change when I started working to earn money? No, I don't think it is since it does not affect the Nexus Company in my job and money-making this past year. There is no way I am the cause of that change already.

"Who wants to be the first to try it out? Although I said it is a tattoo, it doesn't really show as a tattoo in the public, it will only glow and reveal itself if you are accessing the Nexus Version, so if your job requires you to have no tattoo, then you can breathe a sigh of relief then," Nobuhiko explained as he gives a sign to the workers to activate the machine that will imprint the tattoo version.

Looking at it, I can confirm that the machine that we are about to use is also the machine that imprinted my Nexus tattoo in the past timeline.

"Does this have a catch or something?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Nobuhiko looks at me with a confused look.

"I mean, whenever it is free, there is always a catch. There is no way that we only have to receive it because we arrive early. I don't easily believe in that bullsh*t," I honestly blurted. Because this feels too good to be true.

"Hey, why are you disrespecting too much?" Rika looked worried and glances at Nobuhiko if he is upset or angry at my remark.

"Hahaha! You are a sharp one kid, looks like you caught on, in our scheme. I thought you guys will immediately accept it since it is free but I guess we shouldn't hide it anymore from you guys. This is a test version and also the actual version of the Reality Verse Nexus. However, we still didn't know how it will behave on players who will be playing the game indeed. We run some tests and it's working fine but we wanted to test it if it works similarly to how the cabin has right now, like the food and water support for the body for a long time gaming. Basically, we are hiring you guys as our beta testers."

"Guinea Pigs in short..."

"Hahaha, you don't even mince your words but yes. We will collect the data of the performance of the Reality Verse Nexus and use it to further stabilize the system for all players to enjoy it. We will not just let you guys do this for free either. Until the Reality Verse Nexus is released, we will be depositing money as payment for the testing. You can say it is a job for you guys to do it. What do you say?"

"Is that so? Then let's sign it immediately! I can't wait! If we can earn money just by playing the game, that would be pretty ideal!" Rika happily grinned at the explanation.

"I know you guys don't gather data about us so I will decide to trust you all this time. Sign me up," I agreed. It still works the same way as it was in the past timeline, but minus the money deposit until the actual release.

"Excellent! Now please sign up on these papers to finish the transaction and as proof that you guys are indeed proud owners of the Reality Verse Nexus," Nobuhiko clapped his hands and handed us two papers to sign. We signed up the papers and Nobuhiko quickly led us to the tattoo area.

The tattoo is a more complicated technology than the capsule cabin. However, it was more portable and can be activated wherever you are. I am in luck that we don't need to upgrade the capsule cabin after a few months. I directly got straight to get the final version of the Reality Verse immediately. Not only does this have an accessible and portable way to play the game but this also has a 100% synchronization rate compared to the cabin capsule which means, in learning real magic in the real world, with the nexus version, learning it will be much easier.

The process is fast and we finished immediately. We just need to go into a small cabin and operate it on where we would like to put the tattoo. For me, I let it put on my neck, similar to where I put it in the past timeline. The tattoo design of the Reality Verse Nexus comes with different designs, with four kinds; the dragon, the turtle, the tiger, and the bird which looked like the symbolism of the four heavenly beasts. Of course, I choose the tiger tattoo as the design just like how it looks in the past timeline. It's simple but has a pang of style on it.

After that, Rika and I left the company along with her bodyguards. With my target for the day completed, I am ready to go. Readying my keys, I was about to go when Rika stopped me from going.

"Hey, we didn't properly introduce ourselves, my name is Tsukinara Rika. Let's be friends!" Rika smiled and put her hands to perform a handshake with me.

I accepted her handshake and nodded.

"Tsukasa Manato, nice to meet you," I said and exchanged handshakes.

Before Rika can say anything, I left to get my motorcycle in the parking lot and pulled my hood over my head before anyone from the people camping out can find info from me. It would be a bad thing for me if they knew I got Reality Verse Nexus for free. I quickly turn on the engine and rode away from the vicinity without looking back.

"Ah..." Rika is left behind with a surprised look on her face.

"Am I ugly?" Rika touched her face and looked at her bodyguards which are also astonished by the process.

...

With the Reality Verse received, it's time for me to grab a few food stockpiles into my refrigerator. With the amount of money left in my account, I won't be having problems with money for a while as my only need to spend money after this would be on electricity, water, and food.

If I knew that I can get the Reality Verse for free, I wouldn't have gone working to earn the necessary amount of money to buy it. Though I wouldn't be regretting it either since I still have money to use in case I want to buy other things too.

My parents monthly send me money from Nagoya as I study here in Tokyo. However, that stopped when they died when I was 19 years old. Therefore, I had to rely on the Alternate World money I get. But it was also not an easy time.

Since that is the case right now, maybe I should also send money to my parents. They might be having money problems and a surprise money gift would allow them to use it for their use. I returned home at around 3 in the afternoon with groceries in tow. I stopped in front of my house and admired the look of it. It never changed since I started living here in the past timeline. After my parents died, this house became mine and I live here for as long as I can remember until I have the chance to buy my own mansion. The house is not bad. You can say that it was a huge but not so grand  house for a typical Japanese family. It has two floors, and a veranda to sit back and relax whenever the sky in the night is fine. Anyone is willing to live here if they wanted to. But I know that I am the only one living in this house. That means I am living here all alone. It's quite a lonely life but I am used to it.

Things will change. But whatever changes will come, I will only need to adapt on it. I can't make the same mistakes I have done in the past again.