A reward for… relaxing? For going to the beach with his family?
It was the most brilliantly counter-intuitive game mechanic he had ever encountered.
The game wasn't a separate, secret life he had to hide.
It was a part of his world, a part that was actively encouraging him to be a better, more balanced person.
He practically levitated with excitement on his way to his next shift at CostMart. He stacked milk cartons with the focus of a zen master and even managed to make Mr. Henderson crack a smile with a well-timed joke about the existential dread of a misplaced yogurt.
But all he could think about was the +10% Training Efficiency boost. It was a golden ticket, a 48-hour window to turbo-charge his young squad's development.
That evening, he dove into the pod with a singular purpose.
He appeared on the virtual training ground, where the digital sun was shining and his players were going through their warm-ups.
"Morning, gaffer!" Jonathan Rowe called out, looking refreshed.
