After taking a bath, I went to my room with one clear goal: to che on Guo Dai for the update he owed me. I sat down on my puter chair and activated the biometric pad. The device whizzed as I ran a hand over its surface. It then glowed alive with the holographiterface, and I inputted the usual and.

  I was, actually, a little expeg he would dey answering my video call like yesterday. I even doubted that he had woken up early this m. Just in case, I called him anyway.

  To my surprise, the call icked up immediately.

  But... something was off.

  peared on the holographic s ahead wasn't a clear image of Guo Dai's base surrounded by various ss. Nor was his chaotic bedroom. It was all blurry! The heck was this?! I squinted my eyes to look at these pieces of pixel more carefully.

  It was Guo Dai, alright, but he was dug and waving like a thief cealing stolen goods in his arms. Maybe he was... indeed hiding? No idea. It wasn't clear! And the backdrop hi a city with its buildings? Sihe light was too natural and variable to be anything but.

  Voices then echoed bad forth; women, men, whoever it was, how crowded!

  "Who is there? What with this secret?!""Duty call, huh?""You said you were free!""Abe? He said wao go along.""Oh, oh! See! Let us see!"

  Oh...

  'He is outside.'

  Quite unusual to withis noal was already up and about this early in the m. If it was night, even midnight, I could uand. Especially st night when I asked him for an update, and he was still on his puter. Did he... stay up? Or perhaps something had caused a signifit ge in his lifestyle?

  It had to be. Guo Dai wasn't one for early m shenanigans unless something signifit was tugging—Ah! The s in front of me suddenly shook like ahquake! Maybe Guo Dai was walking fast and rashly now?

  It was reflected in his blurted-out words. "J-Just an early m call, I swear!"

  "Not buying, ma's hear!" The voice grew closer.

  "NO WAY!!" Guo Dai finally stopped just so he could stand tall. And he indeed hid his Helios close to his body while his other haended in a stop gesture, likely opposite those people. "My girlfriend! 't let you see, or you all fall hopelessly in love with her, then what will I do?"

  '...Seriously?'

  I massaged my forehead hard. Fine, I appreciate Guo Dai proteg my priva his own way. If people see this silver-haired, red-eyed me, even if they were strangers, I wouldn't want to be insulted led like some exotic creature. But still, the "girlfriend" excuse was a bit much. He was quick to take a without sidering long-term sequences!

  I instantly turned off the e.

  Better not to waste my time and quickly log into the game. Guo Dai wouldn't necessarily get any additional information, after all. Too soon. I started preparing the VR:Ser on my bed, and just as I was about to ect the helmet to my Helios, a notification came in.

  A message, and who else if not from him.

  [Guo Dai:][LMAO][bro, wtf?]

  I really want to ighis, but, but... I couldn't; I still his human! Granted. Nothing erfect, and not everything worked out like we wa to. After all, Guo Dai was easy to use, quick, and free of charge. Despite having a side effect of giving me a headache with his etricity—Alright. It felt like I was describing an object. Or, as some edgy people might say, tools.

  I just replied to him.

  [Me:][You think?]

  Ding!

  [Guo Dai:][sheeeesh]He popped a sticker of a frozen fish character.[aye, , u made em feel bad][some even think w broke up coz this]

  'Uh, really...'

  [Me:][1. None of my business][2. Yes, we broke up]

  [Guo Dai:][NOOOOOOOOOOO]He called me right away. What the hell? I rejected it.[babee pls sd ce I fix it!!1]

  Another call. Rejected. Calling again. Not giving up, apparently. Even I started to be flooded with messages taining pleadiis, stickers, and other exaggerated expressions. Uh... I shouldn't have joined his flow earlier, so here is how it went. But the deed was done; what else could I do? I expected this somehow, and he had even worse behavior than this, anyway.

  Another call came in, so I just picked it up as I needed something from him. "Speak."

  Instead of talking right away, he turhe voice call into a video call, but, of course, I didn't firm. I stayed quiet a while longer until he rovoked to speak up. "No accept? In car already; going home."

  "No."

  "AHHHH!!!" That was his cry; I moved my left hand that attached Helios away to deflect the pierg sound while tinuing tanize VR:Ser... and my bed so it would be fortable ter when logging in. "This is punishment, right? RIGHT?"

  "Not really."

  His voice turned eic as usual. "Then you five me?"

  "No."

  "Girls are so hard to impress! Geez. I trying to lighten the mood; you know how it is."

  "I do." Finished with these preparations, I sat on the edge of my bed. "But 'light' isn't needed here. Updates. That is what this call is supposed to be."

  A brief silence followed. How rare. It was as if my words had finally pressed Guo Dai towards the gravity of the situation. Or perhaps he was only formuting another escape route from the seriousness of our discussion. Only the soft sound of his car could be heard here; seems he was indeed on the road. Judging by how focused he suddenly was, he must have activated the pilot driving mht after answering my call, freeing his hands to dig into the data without distra.

  "Gotchu already!"

  Oh, well, maybe he was indeed distracted by something like cheg what he had acquired. Or perhaps he had just now obtaihe information. As someone who knew him, the tter was more fit.

  "Got a bit sidetracked before."

  "Sidetracked," I repeated with a stifled ugh, sure to ridicule him.

  "Yeah, yeah. Guo Dai, you inpetent. Guo Dai is hard to be serious. Guo Dai su idiot. Guo Dai useless. Now straight to the point: it turns out duriesting, NeoGen distributed its VR:Ser for free to its testers! But! Yours wasn't even listed there!"

  "So this is indeed a prototype..."

  Why did I clude this? Before the Beta Test, every product must undergo the Prototype stage first, which means my VR:Ser was the first physical copy, or its funal version might not be suitable feneral use. It hadn't been refined and was too risky to be released even for beta testers. But... it might hold features or secrets that the beta testers' versions might not possess.

  I know this because I was once a prototype tester of a submae guing in my haing shot even though my grip was correct. This happened because the reeism was improperly calibrated. I learhe dangers of w with experimental teology from that experience.

  And how sensitive the information was about ahat was not yet ready for release.

  Hehe audience for this prototype of VR:Ser must be the inner people of NeoGen. Probably designers, engineers, stists, and some internal stakeholders. Uhe Beta Test, which was exposed to the general public or end users.

  This could expin why I had selective memory loss that only reted to this helmet. Even with my so-called perfect memory, this gap felt different. I mean, unnatural. Maybe the helmet's raw prototype interfaterrupted my mind in ways I couldn't fully prehend. Like something purposely blocked that memory, something beyond my trol.

  Although there were other factors for this memap, the current clues pointed more toward this World: The in game. My question was, did I, at that time, not think about this when using it? Had I felt suspicious or something? Because—e on, the result was this troublesome!

  Ah, but... I have been using this helmet, yet I still feel alright?

  Guo Dai's voice abruptly cut through the speaker. "You k, huh?"

  "Know what?"

  "Your VR:Ser is still a prototype! They were equipped with a more advaneural interface. It is supposed to enhahe immersive experience, making it more... intense, more real! So you are aware of that from yaming experience, huh?"

  "Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "I just k since you guessed it from the beginning? Fot?"

  "Is this another way ing about your super memory? Yuck. What a jerk!"

  "...You are the st oo talk about being a jerk."

  "Anyway," as expected, he deflected the topic about his owivity, "Why you? Why send a prototype to you? Man, kinda envious you got the goldmine! Hnngg, I want to tinker with it, you know! The secrets... and such!"

  I let out a smirk as I knew Guo Dai wouldn't be able to see it.

  'Got you!'

  "Why not just find out the reason why I was bei it?"

  "...Yht! OOMAGA!!" Guo Dai outbursts. "Find out for myself, and if I know why, who knows, maybe I get my own VR:Ser tht?! Oh, clever! Clever!"

  Right after our versation shifted, a typical meical voiterrupted faintly: [Wele, Guo Dai. The system has been activated.]

  Oh, already? He definitely dht away into figuring out who had sehe VR:Ser without a sed thought by starting the hag using his car's system. Really curious to that extent, huh? If the sweets were categorized as business data, Guo Dai's behavior would have been like seeing a toddler at a dy store.

  'His tendency is quite in my favor, too, anyway.'

  To ence Guo Dai, I just said, "Yeah. y together again ter!"

  "Haha! You 't wait for me to beat you, huh?!"

  " you? Remember, the early bird might catch the worm, but the seouse gets the cheese."

  His high, excited voice slowed down. "Cheese... what? Bird??"

  "Ha, idiot."

  "O-Oi! Are you messing with me with that philosophical quote?! Fuck you, Luo; see if yamepy is as deep as your quotes!"

  Ah, really, voice calls were better! I didn't need a mask to hide my emotions or reas. Sinow, instead of smiling warmly like a friend who looked forward to being together with someone dear, my face could maintain its stoic expression...

  ...but inside my head, I was already ughing out loud with the fire all around—Oh, well, what Guo Dai said back then was right.

  'I am good at being a vilin.'

  "Haha, sorry!" I said. "Let me pay it off then. Try looking into Rhuzerv; it could give you a clue."

  "Rhuzerv?" There was a momentary pause. Guo Dai's curiosity iqued, alright. "Never heard of it, but okay! All in for a jackpot!"

  True to his word and without missing a beat, I heard the rapid tapping of keys—Guo Dai was already on the move to diving into the digital depths in search of Rhuzerv.

  Minutes passed, or perhaps it was longer.

  I myself was eveing impatient; as I stayed on the bed's edge, seated like this, my feet began tapping in a rhythm. But I didn't say anything, nor did I do anything else. Guo Dai was motivated, I knew, by a burning need for information (and perhaps the thrill of the hunt); better not to disturb him. I could imagine how his fingers flew over interfaces, his eyes sing data streams, and his mind rag to ect the dots.

  Miretched, with the only sound filling the room was the itent cck of Guo Dai's keyboard. Suddenly, the tapping stopped. There was a sharp intake of breath, then...

  "WHOA!! BLOODY HE—"

  D.N.A.