The first thing Neville noticed when he "woke up" was the lack of personal space.

The second thing he noticed was that his "pillow" was cold and had scales.

Blinking away the morning grogginess, Neville found himself face-to-face with Lucky—or rather, face-to-snout with what Lucky had become.

The little black snake that had once fit comfortably around his wrist now stretched across the entire bed. Its sleek black body became as thick as Neville’s thigh. Its tail end had wrapped possessively around his waist. It secured him in place like the world’s most unusual body pillow.

Most people would have screamed. But Neville had already spent the last few days watching Lucky grow at an alarming rate. His threshold for "weird" had risen considerably.

"Morning to you, too," he mumbled, reaching out to stroke the smooth scales.

Lucky’s body was pleasantly cool against his skin, a perfect antidote to the lingering warmth from another painful night. Lucky responded by tightening its coils slightly.

[Aww, look at you two!] Shelly exclaimed, popping out unnecessarily again.

"Please, it’s morning." Neville groaned, carefully moving out its coils in case he accidentally hurt Lucky.

[Ehehe] Shelly sheepishly laughed.

Lucky might have grown to an intimidating size, but it still retained the same gentle temperament it had shown when he first met it. Plus, its cool body temperature was doing wonders for his recovery.

After completely extracting himself from Lucky’s embrace, Neville began to sit up and stretch. His eyes swept across the room and stopped at something.

"What," he said slowly, "is that?"

In the corner of his room, now stood what could only be described as a technological monstrosity. There was a silver, sleek pod with panels that pulsed a soft blue light. It looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

[Oh, I almost forgot about that! That’s the reason I’m here, host.] Shelly excitedly floated beside him, her pink virtual petals started fluttering excitedly. [The System decided to give you an extra reward for your hard work!]

Neville raised an eyebrow. "A reward? Why—"

[ANYWAY,] Shelly interrupted loudly, [This is the latest virtual reality pod from the original timeline! You wouldn’t need to replace it in the next 10 years!]

Neville’s eyes widened; his earlier skepticism was completely forgotten. "You mean the ’future’ virtual pod?!"

Owning the latest tech on earth was something to brag about. This was something he had never experienced before. This was the top-of-the-line technology, even beyond the current interstellar tech standards.

Neville spent countless hours in PC bangs, losing himself to the games and RPGs. He was sure there were also games in the interstellar era, but where could he find the time to do that?

He has to work, earn a living, and complete his quests on a daily basis. Honestly, it was stressful. Deep inside, when he was chilling and ’doing nothing,’ he couldn’t help but be guilty.

It was these kinds of days that one needed this kind of entertainment the most. Gaming was the best distraction and stress reliever aside from lurking on the internet.

But this pod... this was different from the computers on earth.

[The very same!] Shelly bobbed up and down enthusiastically. [Fully immersive virtual reality pod with time dilation capabilities, neural synchronization, and even a health monitoring system that ensures you don’t die from spending more time inside and forgetting to eat!]

Neville practically vibrated with excitement as he approached the pod.

Up close, it was even more impressive. The surface was smooth and seamless, with no visible joints or openings. As he reached out to touch it, the metal seemed to respond to his presence, warming slightly under his palm.

Lucky slithered over to investigate. It circled the pod once, twice, then looked at Neville with what could only be described as skepticism.

"I know, buddy. It looks weird to me, too." Neville ran his hand along the pod’s surface, searching for some kind of control panel or instruction manual. "Shelly, how exactly do I—"

[Just lie down inside! The pod will do the rest!]

"That’s it? No tutorial? No safety briefing?" Neville’s excitement dimmed slightly as his practical side kicked in. "Who’s going to show me how to turn this thing on and off properly? Is it even safe?"

Shelly drooped slightly in indignation.

[Of course it’s safe! The host’s safety is always Shelly’s top priority!] Her eyes widened dramatically. [Don’t worry, host. Shelly will guide you through everything. Trust me, have I ever led you astray?]

"Do you want me to show you the chronological list or organize it by severity?"

[You know that hurt me, host.]

Despite what he said, Neville did trust Shelly. For all her quirks and occasionally questionable advice, she would always have his best interests at heart—at data.

With a deep breath, he pressed his palm against the pod’s surface. The metal rippled like water, and a seam appeared down the middle. The pod split open with a soft hiss, revealing an interior that looked more like a massage chair than a gaming device.

The inside was padded with some kind of memory foam that seemed to glow faintly. There were holes of unknown purposes and a sleeping mask to cover his eyes.

"Are you sure this is a virtual pod, not a sleeping pod?" Neville said in doubt.

[Just go inside host!] Shelly urged.

When he went inside, Neville instantly felt comfortable and said, "Okay, this is actually pretty cool."

[See? Shelly knows best! Make yourself comfortable. There’s so much to explore!]

Neville turned to Lucky, who had coiled up nearby. It was watching everything with interest.

"Sorry, buddy. Looks like this is a one-person ride."

Lucky’s tongue flicked out, tasting the air. Neville could swear it was a shrug as Lucky slithered over to the bed and made itself comfortable on the still-warm sheets.

"Guard the fort while I’m gone," Neville said before focusing on the virtual pod.

Following Shelly’s instructions, Neville completely leaned his back inside the pod. The memory foam adjusted to his body immediately, cradling him into comfort. He put on the ’sleeping mask’.