Open - The Daily Maintenance of a Hard Player

"Four cheesesteaks, please." Kieran cheerily said to the server within a quite large cheesesteak place in South Philadelphia. It was the mid-afternoon of a nice and sunny Tuesday, almost some time after he had finished school and returned to his house. But that cheesesteak place quite near the Italian Market was quite far from the Girard Estate area where he was living, and it seemed that he went there just by foot, as was evinced by the sweat on his face and the water bottle slung on his shoulder. That was not because he could not afford a taxi or a transport service from his house to there, but because he had clearly intended it so that his muscles will not degenerate. It was his habit since he had been hooked to that game called Terrasphere.

Once during weekdays, and thrice during weekends and holidays, Kieran was continually playing Terrasphere in five-hour shifts. He knew that if he would continue the pace without doing some exercise, he would be like that person he had once seen in the news: a man was hospitalized because of severe muscle atrophy and dehydration just because he was so hooked to whatever he had been playing using a VR console that he was playing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And so it was his habit before diving in the VR world to eat and drink water in quite an excess, exercise whenever possible, and balance the time allotted for VR and for real life. And, as still a student, he had to balance his time between needed assignments and projects and his VR time. If his grade should deep lower than what was needed, it would raise an alarm with his parents and could be a reason that they would take the VR unit away from him, and so he had to maintain his grades. He knew he could ace the tests and recitation topics, but he should watch closely his home activity for the school. Maybe they should be crucial for him to maintain his grades.

Waking up quite early in the morning, after eating his breakfast and preparing for school, he was jogging from his house to school, training his hands while on lecture sessions, putting extra work on his physical education classes, and then jogging back to the house after school, and then after dressing casually, he would jog to the Italian Market to buy some groceries and to purchase a pair of cheesesteaks or two at his favorite joint. That was his routine during school days. On weekends was more exercise, frequenting a gym to work on his arms, such that they would not atrophize, and much more jogging.

As Kieran had finished his grocery shopping, all that he needed to do was to wait for the preparation of the cheesesteaks he ordered, so that he could return to his house. There were not that much assignments to work on as he did some preparation on them while he was on his free time, and so he had more time as Bradwynne and also more time for sleep.

 

“Four cheesesteaks?” Phil raised an eyebrow as she stood beside the blonde male’s booth. She was making her way back to her own booth from the ladies’ room when she heard him order. The kid was tiny, not just in size but also in weight. He looked like he could get blown away by a stray breeze. Phil wondered where he was going to put all those cheesesteaks in. “You can finish four cheesesteaks in just one sitting? Color me impressed.”

Ignoring the dorky boy in glasses who has been waving at her, some nerd who had asked her out to this place, Phil took a seat in Kieran’s booth, right in front of him, plopping down on that seat without a care in the world, not minding the fact that the combination of gravity and what she was wearing would make any hormonal male specimen awkward in their seat.

With her eyes glued on the scrawny kid before her, she put on her most attractive face, hoping to get another free meal in a span of minutes. Hey, she wasn’t called Cheesesteak Phil for nothing. Strangely, she could never gain weight, at least not in the places she’d like for them to pop up. But, eh, food is food. Cheesesteaks are cheesesteaks. Phil loved them for what they were: simply delicious.

“You know,” she purred, reaching a finger to slide across his cheek. “I could also do with a cheesesteak right about now, handsome. What say you feed poor little ol’ me with your cheesesteak?”

 

As Kieran was still waiting for the cheesesteaks, he then took a seat at the place quite near the counter. As he took a seat here, he remembered what had happened on two different days in the real world. It was here in this place where an anguished Kieran sat down to eat before. That time he was so anguished and confused at the same time as to why he had killed that person who only wanted revenge for his dead family during the war between Astorea and Falderen. That time, after he logged out, the grisly and horrendous scene replayed in his mind on and on, while he was eating out in this joint. He tried to forget it as he tore through the food on and on, over and over again, order after order. He then slapped two Franklins on the counter before running off, and when he returned the next day at the joint, he found out, after claiming his change, that he had just eaten nineteen cheesesteaks in one sitting, and not even an hour had passed. A month later, as he was buying his daily fix, he was then invited to a competitive cheesesteak eating contest, which he then obliged. He won the contest with twenty-four cheesesteaks eaten in an hour, but he never joined such contests after that. The most delicious way to enjoy this meal was one or two per sitting, but since the cheesesteaks here were too delicious, he always ended up ordering a pair of two, the other half to be eaten for dinner back at home.

The order finally arriving, the two to be eaten in the place while the other two prepared for a take-out, Kieran was about to unwrap one to be eaten, when he noticed someone plop at his front. He then stared at the newcomer as his eyes climbed up. Tanned skin, large breasts that was slightly covered by a bra of American colors and a skimpy buttoned shirt, quite alluring facial features, and short blonde hair. Kieran's face slightly went red as he saw those melons that were almost alluringly displayed in front of him. His face even went redder as his face was being caressed by that woman as she was... wait, asking for a cheesesteak? Here he was, the class charmer, with his facial features, music and singing he can swoon a lot of girls, and then THIS WOMAN, waltzed towards him, showing her melons, not for him, BUT JUST FOR A SINGLE CHEESESTEAK? Sometimes he really question the morals of humanity right now, and so he wanted to spend more time in VR space being Bradwynne than in the current world being Kieran, if not for the constraints being a human, and a student at that.

Kieran, still fuming, closed his eyes as he opened his wallet. He saw that he still had a good amount of Franklins left; it should last him some more weeks before he would get his next monthly allowance. All right, he could spare her a cheesesteak at this rate. Sighing, he then scounged the paper bag that contained his take-outs, and got a cheesesteak still wrapped, and then passed it towards the woman, and then said, "Well the cheesesteaks here tastes great, here have one." He then scanned the area around him as he ate one steadily. "Well this place sells really delicious cheesesteaks, but it seems there's not a lot of people here. I really wonder why."

 

Phil's eyes grew wide with joy as the scrawny kid before her gave him one of his cheesesteaks. Bingpot! Boys are such boys. Not a single one of them have been strong enough to resist Phil's charms. Without wasting any more time, she ravaged the delicious cheesesteak, indifferent towards what the scrawny kid or what the other boy, the nerdy dork in glasses who invited her here, might think of her. To Phil, cheesesteaks were the most important meal of the day, the most important thing in this world, far more sacred than religion or income. There was a reason they called her Cheesesteak Phil. That reason was she loved them with all her heart, more than she loved anything else.

In a matter of minutes, seconds even, Phil had finished her cheesesteak whole. She licked her fingers before going for a napkin to clean her face and, well, her fingers. Turning to the kid, obviously way younger than her, she wondered why he was alone and with so many cheesesteaks to boot. Was he trying out for the cheesesteak-eating contest? Ha! No one's going to beat Phil in that, especially not some scrawny little kid.

"Listen, kid," she put on a very serious, somewhat threatening face, hoping the scrawny kid would focus on it instead of on her charms. "If you're planning to compete in the cheesesteak-eating contest this weekend, don't. You will fail. No one has beaten Cheesesteak Phil. Ever. You'll get crushed and humiliated by the greatest cheesesteak connoisseur of all time!" Thankfully, that was all spoken. Writing that down would have been the worst, considering Phil didn't actually know how to spell connoisseur. She grinned at him, eyes narrowed, before poking his nose with a clean finger. This kid was going to be no match for her. She is the best.

"Hey, Phil, our table is back here!" the nerdy dork in glasses called out for her but Phil ignored him. She was in the zone, in the competitive zone. This scrawny kid was more important in this moment than glasses boy. Besides, she's already eaten glasses boy's cheesesteak. Scrawny kid had more.

 

As the woman wolfed down the cheesesteak he gave, Kieran just stared as he steadily ate his, his eyes narrowing and his face showing as if he was ashamed of what he was seeing right now. Really, was this woman so poor that she just sold her body for a single cheesesteak? Or was she just a huge glutton? He watched on as the woman finished her cheesesteak in record time. Well, the second should hold true, judging from the speed of finishing the sandwich. What a strange woman. And wait a minute, did she just insinuate that he was joining the cheesesteak eating contest next week, judging from the four cheesesteaks he bought? He had long retired from such contests since his debut day.

"This is just my daily fix," he said as he was unwrapping the second cheesesteak, as he had finished one earlier. The speed should almost never to be expected given that he only just steadily bit into the sandwich, testament that he was also of a competitive eater material. However for him it would be just because the cheesesteaks here really tasted good. "I do not remember if there's a law prohibiting noncompetitive eaters to buy a great amount of food." He laughed at his own joke as he dug through the second cheesesteak. "Well I needed a good amount of fuel to exercise my body. You know, essentials for a VR junkie like myself. Would not want to be like that person who was hospitalized due to excessive VR use in here very recently." He then took a bite again of the cheesesteak. "Reeeally yummy. Well I was supposed to eat two of these for my dinner, but it's all right. Good luck in the eating contest though, I have long since retired from such things. In VR space, maybe I would try." He then noticed someone calling from behind him. But it seemed that that person was not calling for him. He was calling someone with the name Phil. He then turned towards his back and saw... a familiar face. Hey it was this upperclassman who had straight A's in almost every subject and who had a huge disdain for anyone who's academic performance was lower than him... don't remember his name though. He then stared on who he was referring to... he did not remember any student who had the name Phil. He seemed to be shouting at the direction of the woman here, but there was not that much people in that direction... so the woman's name was Phil? He then stared at the woman, then at glasses kid, then at the woman again. A nasty plan then formed in his head. So, he remembered that this kid flaunted once his A scores towards him, and insulting him for his C averages last year. Now he would get his revenge as he smiled creepily.

He then turned towards the glasses person, and said to him, in an insulting manner, "Hey, is this your girl? Too bad, Phil just fell in love with me. She cannot resist my charms... and wait, I just treated her a cheesesteak. Too bad for you, so better luck next time, loser. That's how you called me last year, right? Now look how the wheels have turned."