No, Sam was suddenly timed-out with an error

A swirl of color flashed into Sam’s field of vision, and as it cleared he realized he wasn’t in the game but rather the virtual shopping district instead. “What gives?” he thought, clearly annoyed.

<Your account was timed-out due to over-pinging the server. Please wait one hour before attempting to access the server again,> the voice echoed in his head.

“You have got to be kidding me…” Sam groaned and looked around. He seemed to be wearing a familiar shirt and jeans from his virtual wardrobe, and as he thought about them, an unusual menu popped up before him.

Equipment Slots:
Head:
Torso: Blue Cotton Tee-Shirt
Hands:
Legs: Denim Jeans
Feet: White Cotton Socks, Black Sneakers
Accessories:

What the hell? This was not normal for the virtual marketplace. It was almost as if he were playing a RPG, but offline. “Uhh… Status,” Sam thought, summoning another menu.

User Status:
Name: Sam Williams
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Status: Hunger (42%)
Skills: Scan (lv.1)
Jobs:
Level: 1
Health: 500/500
Mana: 0/0
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 2
Intelligence: 4
Stamina: 2
Agility: 3
Charisma: 2

This was wild… Sam could hardly believe what was going on. He had stats and everything! Most of the categories were a bit lacking, but he did notice his hunger status. Now that he thought about it, he could actually feel his real body’s hunger. He’d need to investigate this further, but for now it was probably best to get some food first.

Sam blinked and the menus disappeared from his vision, so he made his way over to the virtual grocer. He walked up and down the aisles until he arrived at a selection of energy bars. Picking one up and examining it in his hand he echoed in his mind [Scan!] A small menu appeared overlaying the bar.

[Power Bar]
[Price: $3.00]
[Effects: Restores 50 Health and clears Hunger. Peanut butter flavored.]

As he mulled over his options, one thought occurred to Sam: If he were to steal this, would it increase his stats? It was a tempting idea, but he decided it was best to not risk it. He went up to the cashier and paid for it before heading back outside. He bit into the bar and chewed it, the taste of peanut butter hitting his tongue. Once the bar was consumed, Sam checked his status again, and as he anticipated, the Hunger status had been removed.

Sam continued to walk around, eager to find another test for his newfound capabilities. He had nearly even forgotten about wanting to get back on the game.

“Excuse me, sir. May I please have a moment of your time?”

Sam turned around to see a woman with a blank expression facing him. She was holding a small bottle in her hands and had a thin black band around her neck. This was the tell-tale sign of a digital vendor, something like a NPC in this expansive virtual world. “Would you like to try a sample of our new fragrance?” she asked him with a smile. Normally Sam would say nothing and walk away, but as she posed the question it felt as if time had stopped. A menu popped up before Sam’s eyes, offering [Yes] and [No] options. It seemed as if everything were frozen in place until he made a selection. He had no desire to try on any perfumes, but he was dying to know how it would affect his statuses. Besides, it would only be temporary anyway.

“Uh, sure,” he responded, and on cue the digital world around him began moving, as if it were un-paused. The vendor smiled and gave him a spritz. It was a flowery scent, a bit too feminine for his tastes.

“Would you like to purchase a bottle?” the vendor asked and Sam quickly shook his head and walked away so he could check his status once more.

Status: Perfumed (CHA +1, Dur. 3 Hours)

Curious, Sam focused on the status for more details.

[Perfumed (CHA +1, Dur. 3 Hours)]
[User is masked in a flowery scent. Increases Charisma by 1 but halves Evasion rate. Makes the user more noticeable by others. Duration: 3 Hours]

It didn’t seem like the effect was super beneficial for combat, but Sam didn’t imagine he would be facing anything of the sort any time soon anyway. Maybe the increased Charisma could help him get a discount on something though… He’d need to do more testing.