I shifted my focus to the stay-at-home group and settled in for some relaxation at Penpen’s Home.
The members of the carriage group were currently taking a break back at my Home. Since there was a shack with a roof to shield them from the elements, the environment was far more comfortable than roughing it in the wild.
I’d managed to fix up that crude shack from the other day, transforming it into a proper living room where someone could actually get some decent rest—mostly thanks to some secondhand furniture. Cheers, Penpen.
Anyway, now that the restriction was released, we were able to stretch one real-world day into three in-game days.
But since we weren't actual game characters, if we were going to be active for three days, we needed to take three days’ worth of rest to compensate. Ultimately, if we didn't log out to the real world for a breather, the mental fatigue would pile up at a terrifying rate.
"By the way, do you guys know about VR Sleep-uo?"
"VR Sleep...?"
Nika—or rather, Alto—was the one who brought it up.
"Basically, you just sleep while staying inside the VR space-uo."
"You mean like accidentally nodding off?"
"Well, it’s more about consciously setting up an environment to relax in-dao. You use healing music and calm, peaceful visuals-uo."
I see. I tilted my head, wondering if that would actually alleviate the exhaustion.
"Wearing a headset would normally just give you stiff shoulders, but it’s not like we’re wearing physical gear right now anyway-uo," Alto pointed out.
"So it might actually work as a way to rest?"
"I feel like if our brains are under Thought Acceleration, resting might not mean much, though-ssu..." Penpen added.
That made sense. Physically speaking, the brain in the real world should only experience one day as one day... or so the logic went. That was exactly why there were so many regulations regarding Thought Acceleration. At least, that was how it was supposed to work.
"No, speaking from my experience spending half a year in a single day as Nika-chan, resting inside this game seriously removes the fatigue-uo. Though, when you go back to the real world, whatever exhaustion you had out there is still waiting for you-dao."
Right. Strangely enough, this game actually allowed for proper rest. However, having the fatigue come flooding back the moment you logged out was impressive in a technical sense, but also a bit of a letdown. While it was obvious that in-game rest wouldn't fix physical exhaustion in reality, it was still quite the sensation.
"It’s just like the Fullness System-uo," Alto said.
"Oh, right. Hunger works the same way."
"Exactly-ssu. It’s a shock when you log out and suddenly realize you’re starving. It’s just like that-ssu," Penpen agreed.
In any case, as long as we rested within the game, we wouldn't carry that specific mental fatigue over into our real lives.
"So the plan is to set up a proper bed in our Home and rest there, then?"
"Yup-uo. An inn would be fine too, but the ones in this world are pretty mediocre—they're basically medieval-level rooms with a shower tacked on-uo."
"If we're talking about Furniture Crafting, then it’s my turn to shine-ssu! ...Yeah, compared to embedding magnets into board game pieces, this won't take any time at all. I'll whip up some beds first-ssu!"
Since beds were already part of the standard crafting recipes, she could apparently finish them in a flash as long as she had the materials, unlike the board game pieces that required all sorts of manual tweaking. Of course, if she tried to get fancy with carvings or extra parts, the process would take significantly longer...
"You two are fine with the default 'Clean Bed' for now, right-ssu?"
"I might want something fancy later, but for now, that’s fine-uo! If I do get picky, it’ll be about the mattress-dao," Alto replied.
"Yeah. I’m not going to be staring at carvings while I'm asleep anyway. Function over form."
"For me, those details affect the quality of my sleep, so while I’ll stick to the default for today, I’m definitely going to make mine cute-ssu! Eventually!"
Penpen really was a stickler for those kinds of things. Before long, three simple beds were finished.
"Alright, I’m going to go set this up in my Home and head to sleep!"
"Lend me a room, someone-uo. Even a warehouse is fine as long as the bed fits-dao."
"Sure thing-ssu! I’ve expanded my Home and have some empty rooms, so feel free to use one. Maybe I’ll turn it into a Guest Room... Uhehe, how luxurious-ssu!"
A house with its own guest room—that was basically the height of luxury. By the way, the Home was a mysterious dimension that was far more spacious on the inside than its outward appearance suggested. It worked much like an Inventory, so there was no use overthinking it.
Anyway, I parted ways with the other two and returned to my own Home, but...
As soon as I stepped into the room with the bed, Miti-chan lunged at me with a hug.
"Lord Spirit! Let's do a Slime Bed! A Slime Bed! Please!?"
"I hadn't thought of that...!"
A Slime Bed. In other words, a bed made entirely of slime!!
To put it simply, Miti-chan would serve as the mattress while I slept. I wondered for a moment if she’d be able to get any rest that way, but she could just Split and have the part of her she wasn't actively controlling serve as the mattress.
"Can you make sure you don't accidentally absorb or drown me?"
"Of course I can~!" she chirped.
Alright then, let’s see about the sleeping surface... Ah, so the bed was basically just a thick futon laid over a wooden board. I pulled the futon aside and asked Miti-chan to take its place as the bedding. Split!
"Oh, it’s all jiggly and cool, but not too cold. Feels pretty good."
"Ehehe, let's sleep together! I'll be the Slime Comforter!"
A Slime Comforter... was that really a thing? I had my doubts. But as I lay down, a pillow suddenly popped up. A Slime Pillow. Nice work, Miti-chan.
Then Miti-chan climbed on top of me... melted into a gooey liquid, and draped herself over me.
It felt a bit like being the rice in a bowl of thick starchy sauce. Well, my body was no longer exposed to the air, so I guess it functioned as a blanket. A normal slime probably wouldn't be able to pull this off. Surprisingly, she was actually retaining my body heat, making it feel slightly warm and cozy. This was actually quite relaxing...
"Ehe, ehehe, Lord Spirit... You're all wrapped up in me... Haa, I love you, I love you so much..."
"Alright, goodnight then... It's a little ticklish, though."
"Ah, sorry, Lord Spirit. I'll be careful not to move too much, okay?"
I slept soundly until morning, and when I woke up, it felt as if all my fatigue had vanished. I’d ended up covered in goo, but once Miti-chan reabsorbed her slime, I actually felt quite refreshed. All in all, the Slime Bed was surprisingly comfortable. I think I’ll have to brag about this to Alto later.