After logging out of World: The in, my mind still felt scattered, but I o get a grip; I tried to focus on the here and now. Closed my eyes. Open. Closed again. The blurry silhouette of my room finally became clearer. I turo the side... sure enough, it was [12:43 PM], acc to the digital clo the wall.

  Pushing myself up, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. From here, I noticed that my throat felt dry. It was natural after many hours of lying down without moving at all.

  I croaked, "Water."

  "Dispensing water." My room system plied; a panel on the wall beside me slid open, revealing a gss of water. I picked it up to enjoy the ess of its touy palm. Then, I took a long drink, feeling mrounded with each sip.

  I set the gss on my bedside table and, like a cat waking from a long sleep, stretched for a moment. I had a slight ache in my wrists and shoulders that felt stiff. I massaged several joints of my body, including twirling my shoulders oer another.

  I preferred to do everything on schedule—eating, studying, sleeping, and having free time—so, of course, my body also chose that fixed time. Aion from this routine was met with protest. Like now, with my stomach growling right on cue. I curled in, pressing both arms against it.

  'Hang in there, buddy.'

  Still, I wasn't always this sistent. There were times when I became so absorbed with my "stuff" that I lost track of everything else in my room. I would stay up all night. . No sleep. Those moments were rare but intense, and my family had learo let me be. My mother often joked that I lived on my own time.

  Because of this, my family had long accepted my indepe nature. They uood that I would eat when I was ready, so they had given up calling me for meals. So uoht? Really uanding to the point where I felt terrible. Though I couldn't ge my tendeher.

  My stomach growled again, louder this time, pulli of my thoughts. I sighed. It wasn't good to ighe signals my body was giving me.

  I got up from bed relutly. Some faint aroma of lunow wafted from the kit, warm and inviting. Before my mind k, my feet began to move on their own as if to some bea down to the kit. The smell of spices was more pu, and it reminded me of how I had skipped my meal.

  To make matters worse, Mother was there, apparently busy s out the ptes from lunch... uhh, I was hesitant to go in.

  Maybe wait until she finished? I quickly turned around—

  "Oh, Luo?"

  As I heard my through the air, I froze mid-step. My heart beat a bit faster. I was gd to see my family, but I also felt a twinge of guilt for not following the usual routine. Sadly, there was no esg now. I took a deep breath, steadying myself, then turo face the kit entrance.

  "Yes?" And I gave a smile.

  "You must be hungry. There is some left for you; let me prepare—Oh, do you want synthesized nutrition like usual?"

  "Just let me," I interjected, eager to maintain some independend to spare her the trouble. Quickly, I got in and sed the kit ter, searg for the leftovers. Left, right, I surveyed the area before opening the refrigerator—

  "Here." A voice behind me provoked me to look over; Mother was there, handing me a pte of food. "Your favorite, stir-fried vegetables with Vectis' meat. And there are grains in the Processor."

  Hmm, actually, I didn't have a favorite; I wasn't that picky as long as it was edible. But I appreciated the effort. "Thanks, Mom."

  She just nodded with a smile.

  I took the pte from her hand and put it into the NutriSynth. When the gss door closed, a holographiel appeared. I made some adjustments. My Helios bracelet glowed when I did so, as it interfaced directly with the device. This warmed my meal while infusing it with additional vitamins and minerals tailored to my preferences.

  Ding!

  The finished notification came out. I took a bowl of grains and gathered the food, which was now a warm dish.

  Carrying it, I headed to the living room, setting my meal oable—Oh, drink. I walked back to the kit to get a gss of water, and sure enough, Mother wasn't there. Probably went to the ba or front yard? I didn't know. I just went back to the table with a gss in my hand.

  But my wandering bad forth to the kit seemed to attract my little sister's attention; Lin was sitting at the dining table with a stylus-pen in her hand, her head held high, and her wide-open eyes fixed ohen, hurriedly, she collected everything scattered oable within arm's read carried it up.

  While I was sitting on the sofa, Lin was also there. But she, instead, sat on the floor while spreading digital panels of her assig onto the coffee table. I slid my meal away with the gss still in hand.

  "Big brother! Studying together?" Her sparkling eyes were directed at me. How excited; she even twitched her cross-legged legs with enthusiasm.

  "Sure. But I eat first?" I reached over and ruffled her hair, elig a surprised squeak from her. "And I want to check the news. There might be something iing today."

  With her head down from my patting, Lin looked up as soon as I withdrew my hand from her. Her expression was shocked, and she blinked repeatedly at me. She finally gave me pouty cheeks as if to show me that she was angry, but that quickly ged. The brightness returo her face as she nodded.

  "Okay, but don't take too long! We got stuff to talk about!"

  I chuckled softly and then picked up my spoon, sav the first few bites of my meal. The living room settled into a rhythm: the soft hum of Lin's digital panels mixed with the occasional king of my spoon against the dish. Every now and then, I looked at her, notig the furrow in her brow as she scribbled with her stylus-pen. How immersive to her study. A good sign, though.

  When I finished my food, I pced the pte on the coffee table; only then did she respond, "WHAAA!!!"

  Lin's scream, holy, was quite loud and exaggerated, even to the point of toug her own head with both hands! Of course, it drew my attention to her. "What?"

  "Too fast! You finished already!"

  'Finished... my food?'

  Didn't I usually eat like this? How puzzling. So, I just responded with an awkward smile. "Um, sorry?"

  "ologize? You didn't do anything wrong!"

  'My thoughts, exactly.'

  "I just didn't have time to ask anything!" Her gaze swept across the panel and holograms. "Oh, no, I uand everything in this se!"

  'Isn't that great?'

  Oh, well, maybe Lin was trying to i with me with her "Child Fun" cept based on psychology—she had a natural, perhaps unscious, tendency to express her emotions purely, like the spoy associated with childhood. I kind of envy it. Though... I hope she could stay like that.

  With a faint smile, I flicked her forehead. "Idiot."

  She rubbed her forehead with a pout. But quickly returo her usual bright self as if something had crossed her mind. "Hey, help me with the part, then! Applications in quantum putiwork models. I got the basics down but kinda lost iegration part."

  Quantum puting, huh? I shifted the empty pte, gss, and bowl to tidy them up, then leaned forward. "Sure. Surprise me."

  Lin eagerly shuffled the holographiels after hearing my response.

  When she expined her uanding of the subject, she used dense blocks of text and diagrams that floated between us. I listened, occasionally asking questions to crify her reasoning.

  But the lohis topit on, the heavier the discussion became, even to the point that Lin, who was expining naturally with a twinkle in her eye and her hands moving around, was now squinting her eyes and scratg her head with her stylus-pen. Our versation had gone far beyond the realm of her academic studies—the advaopics she would enter wheered college.

  It arent she ushing herself, which made me feel a bit on top of myself... did she try to match my mi? Because I could tell she was trying hard. Too hard, even.

  I leaned back, letting the sofa catch me as I shifted into a more rexed position. Propping my head up with one hand, I chuckled. "You are doing great, but you are overplig things."

  She paused mid-sentence, her hands h over the panels. "Huh? Overplig?"

  "Yeah." I gestured at her scribbled notes. "You have already figured out most of it. You are just sed-guessing yourself."

  Her eyes narrowed skeptically. "So... we are done?"

  I grinned. "We are."

  "B-But I still don't uand!"

  "You do. Trust me, with this level of uanding, you will master this topic properly in a couple of years."

  "Couple of years? That is forever!" she huffed, crossing her arms.

  I couldn't help it; a small ugh escaped me. I tapped Lin's forehead lightly. "Alright, genius. Let me tell you something: you are already ahead of your friends. You don't o impress me this hard."

  Her face flushed pink. "WHAT?! No! I wasn't—I mean, I wasn't trying to impress you!"

  "Sure you weren't. So, about that news..." I poio the s. "Do you mind if I watow?"

  She crossed her arms, still pouting, but gave a relut nod. "Fine, go ahead. But ime, I am finishing my expnation!"

  "Yes, yes. Good luck, Lin! I am rooting for you."

  It seems my teasing made my little sister even more embarrassed; she ended up shakih both hands. It felt o keep pretending like this, so I just let her be; she'd tire herself out eventually (as evidenced by her now letting go of me despite her characteristic pout). I also just let myself keep smiling like this.

  I then reached for the remote, my fingers brushing its surface as I searched for the power button and pressed it. The OLED s on the wall fshed to life. I started looking around for els that were iing enough to follow. And I found one.

  A New Development in Medical Sce: The NeuroVerse SystemThat bold sentence appeared when the newscaster's voice echoed throughout the s.

  "The NeuroVerse system bines virtual reality, neurosce, and physical therapy. Truly marvelous advas! And now, to delve deeper into this innovation, we have a special guest with us today." The camera pao the side as the host tinued, "Please wele NeoGen's Chief Stist, Dr. Adrian Shaw!"

  The muticipated figure entered, posed and fident, sitting in the opposing chair. He was really a man whose age was difficult to pinpoint. His hair was ash brown, while his eyes were sharp and observant, lime-colored. He was dressed in a suit, and a glittering pin with the NeuroVerse symbol was dispyed on his pel.

  "Dr. Shaw, your work on the NeuroVerse system is revolutionary! Could you share what the future holds for this teology?"

  The addressee smiled at the newscaster. "We had a goal more than just aertai product. We aim higher; there is a clear roadmap we are following. Unfortunately, we are still far from that stage, and thus, revealing all our pns today might be premature. But I tell you the NeuroVerse system is tied with the cept of Khasan."

  "Khasan? A term that represents orue nature?" Visibly ied, the newscaster leaned in. "How does it rete to the NeuroVerse system inside VR:Ser?"

  "In our text, Khasan is about unlog the potential. Our system allows individuals to explore their Khasan without the limitations of the physical world. We are talking about a deeper e with our true selves, like paralyzed people who recover. Because we, by nature, should be able to move."

  D.N.A.