"Hm~ Hmm~"
A low hum filled a certain cubicle, Zoey taking a sip of her drink. The drink tasted better than usual.
But then again, the Guild cafe was one of the only places that made the drink exactly like she wanted it.
’Maybe they changed the brand of the milk.’
Whatever it was, they did a good job.
"Hmm~"
Humming to herself, Zoey didn’t notice the shadow that cast above her.
Lifting her head, she saw Kyle looking at her weirdly.
Her face straightened imdiately.
"What?"
"....."
Kyle didn’t say anything and just continued to look at her weirdly.
In the end, however, he decided not to pursue the matter further as he tossed a couple of papers over to her desk.
"What’s this?"
Zoey looked at the papers in confusion. But after catching a small glimpse of the title, her expression hardened.
"Departnt Trials."
Kyle’s voice followed not long after.
"...I’m not sure when they’re going to start, but it won’t be long. The Guild is still handling the aftereffects of the gate. They’ll make an announcent soon. Regardless, it’s going to happen."
"Oh god."
Zoey covered her face.
The Departnt Trial was an event that occurred each year. Just like the na suggested, it was an event that occurred within the departnt, and pitted all the squads within the departnt to compete with each other.
The criteria and way of competition would change every year, so nobody knew the ans of competition this year.
The rewards for the winners were also usually really good.
But there was a problem.
The winners...
They would be sent to the main island to represent the Guild at the World Guild Conference, an event where teams from every Guild gathered to compete, striving for both victory and worldwide recognition.
It was an event that Zoey had participated in the past. Kyle had also been present.
But—
"We just barely made it in the mid-tables, didn’t we?"
"...Yes."
Kyle smiled bitterly.
"It’s not like we couldn’t have ranked higher, but the Guilds on the island are simply on another tier. I don’t have a good feeling this year either."
"...Sa."
Zoey agreed.
It wasn’t that they were lacking. In truth, Zoey believed her talent, along with Kyle’s, could still stand among the best in the Guilds of the main island. The difference was that, unlike them, those Guilds were filled with entire teams of individuals possessing talents on the sa level as them.
Their teams were simply superior in every way.
"I don’t think the situation will change much this year. Our current roster is quite thin from the gate, and from what I’ve heard, Clara is out of commission. Without her, it’s practically impossible for us to do well. In fact, we’re more likely to be ranked at the bottom than to climb higher."
"I think the sa."
Zoey’s face turned a little grim.
"Maybe in a couple of years, since we’ve got Myles and Rowan from our team. The two of them are growing really well. Especially Myles. He’s... doing very well."
"Yes."
Kyle thought about Myles. His achievents lately have been quite good. It was just unfortunate that a lot of them were overshadowed by Seth and his team.
That team...
"I guess there’s not much hope this year. The future is promising, though."
Kyle smiled, but the smile didn’t last for very long.
"...That is if we’re still here."
Kyle stopped there as Zoey paused and looked up at him. Neither said a word, but she imdiately understood what he was trying to say.
She shrugged.
"I’ve still not considered it yet. I’m quite happy here. I don’t see why I would need to change, but it isn’t like this is an offer that I can simply throw away in the trash. The terms are just..."
"Sa."
The atmosphere between the two turned a little grim.
"Ehm.
Kyle cleared his throat while giving a quick skim of Zoey’s desk. His eyes eventually settled over her drink, and he quickly switched the topic.
"You went to the cafe?"
"Hm? Oh... Yeah."
Zoey raised her drink before taking a sip.
"It seems like they’ve changed their milk. The drink tastes better than usual."
"It does?"
Kyle stared at the drink for a mont before looking back at her.
"Was that why you were smiling before?"
"Huh?"
"Well, that’s good. I’ll pop up over there and have my usual. I’ll see you later."
Tapping on the cubicle a couple of tis, Kyle turned around and left.
Zoey stared at his parting back, her hand pressing against her lips as she frowned.
"Smiling...?"
’I was smiling?’
***
The mont I ca to, I was t with a world of white.
It stretched in all directions.
Infinitely.
"Where in the world—!?"
Suddenly, a panel appeared before , startling .
But then—
"Wait..."
Taking a look at the panel, I imdiately recognized it.
—[—[Furniture]—]—
● Oak Bookshelf: 40 SP
● Mahogany Chair: 25 SP
● Walnut Cabinet: 60 SP
● Pine Stool: 15 SP
● Cherry Dresser: 55 SP
● Ebony Side Table: 35 SP
—[—[Furniture]—]—
This was the very sa panel from before.
And as I looked at the white world around , I realized sothing.
"Maybe...?"
My heart raced inside my chest as I swallowed silently. Dragging my finger over to the panel, I pressed my finger over the [Pine Stool] picture.
Imdiately, another notification followed.
[Would you like to purchase Pine Stool for 15SP?]
▶ [Yes] ▷[No]
The mont I pressed [Yes], the SP was directly taken off from my account, and a stoold materialized from above .
*Puff*
It appeared exactly the sa way as the items that I purchased from the shop, as I hastily grabbed it, only to realize that it was a lot lighter than I expected.
"It feels the sa, but it’s really light."
I waved the stool a couple of tis before putting it close to my nose.
"...It slls like new wood, too."
This...
I examined the stool before from every angle. No matter how long I studied it, I couldn’t find a single flaw. It slled, felt, looked, and even sounded like an ordinary stool. I wouldn’t have been able to tell it apart from one in the real world.
"This is crazy."
Because of how busy I had been, I had never actually gotten to play with a virtual reality ga.
That, and the fact that purchasing a capsule was quite expensive.
’I also heard that there are helts that are quite cheap, but the experience isn’t quite the sa.’
But still, if this was how realistic the virtual world was...
My heart started to palpitate with even more excitent as I had a hard ti containing my excitent.
"The possibilities are endless. Coupled with everything that I currently have, I might be able to create sothing that is not much different from a gate."
It was scary to think about.
A Virtual Ga that was not much different than a Gate.
But this...
This was what the Guilds and people wanted. I could already imagine the craze that a ga like this would create in the world.
From this mont forward, I was no longer playing within the island.
With Virtual Reality, I was playing at the world level.
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