Despite having gone to sleep around 2 AM, I woke up at the crack of dawn. Or rather, the System woke me up with an alarm blaring straight into my head.
It didn't sound like a rooster crowing or a gentle chime. It sounded exactly like the default ring of a smartphone, except cranked up to a volume that bypassed my eardrums and rang directly inside my head.
-Ding!
{Good morning, Host. It is 5:30 AM local time.}
"You're a sadist," I groaned, violently shoving my face into the lumpy pillow. "Who the hell sets an alarm for five-thirty after a 2 AM bedtime? I need at least eight hours. It's backed by science."
-Ding!
{Host, you are a Tier-1. You do not strictly 'need' eight hours of sleep. You merely desire it.}
"Right. Because God forbid I want to be comfortable."
I threw my legs over the side of the bed and forced myself to stand, feeling my body pop in three different places before stumbling over to the small basin in the bathroom.
