I woke up the next morning in my bed, enveloped by the fresh scent of vanilla and the warming yellow hue coating the entirety of my room. My body felt unusually tense, so I jumped out of bed, remade the covers, and sat down to begin my morning stretch routine.

As I began rolling my shoulders back, I had the feeling something was off. Not in the sense that I did something wrong, of course, but that certain irritable news was coming my way.

The Arc-Board, a holographic laptop with multiple white screens, made my Proatrix ring on my desk. I snapped my fingers and several monitors floated around me with news bulletins, articles, and forum discussions.

“What… the hell is all of this?” I asked while standing up from my mountain pose.

I swiped through several of the articles, and the word ‘Callixtus’ continued to appear.

Seriously, that game again? Wait a second… That’s what’s been bothering me! I stayed up way too late playing that stupid game again! Did one of those club members intentionally send these to vex me?

The shared news bulletin had a name attached to it - Tiger Quinn, with Paige and him on a video call as the dial rang. I scrunched my nose and walked over to my mirror. A severe case of bedhead, the under of my eyes were puffy, and I was still in a white nightgown.

No… I’m not going to video call you now. Whatever it is, can probably wait anyway. As I was walking past the bathroom, a news article flashed in front of my face. I groaned and pushed it to the side, but the words ‘memory loss’ and ‘pain’ caught my attention.

I started from the top and scrolled down. Each paragraph became more ludicrous as I kept reading. What the hell do they mean, ‘several players have reported memory loss upon dying in-game?’

I ran to the bathroom, washed my face, brushed, and put some ointment on my cheeks. My eyes clicked the ‘Enter’ button on the call as I sat down at my desk and sighed.

“It’s bad manners to spread rumors so early in the morning, and on the weekend, no less. I’m not your adviser today. Go bother someone else.” I said.

“Reina, wait!” Tiger exclaimed. “Did you read the news articles I sent you?”

“Yes, I did, about players losing memory on death or whatever.”

“No, that’s just a rumor! The other one, regarding the corporation's sponsorships within the game!”

I swiped through several of the screens, stopping on an article discussing sponsors and in-game currency. My eyes scanned through the entire document, finding reoccurring keywords such as currency exchange, corporations, and game tasks.

“If I’m reading this correctly, it says players can exchange in-game currency by completing dungeons and selling unique items to traders… and that corporations are buying out Patricians, the newest class of nobles, for their usefulness in trade, along with V-Streamers on several year contracts to earn through trade and exploration…”

Stolen novel; please report.

I closed my eyes to process the information, but the more it floated in my mind, the more absurd it became.

“The Director and president of the Academy invited us to a meeting this morning to discuss our club and this recent development! Isn’t it exciting?” Tiger said with a grin.

Paige yawned while patting the top of her head. “Yaay… super… This could’ve waited a bit later, you know? And why did he schedule the meeting so early?”

I agreed with the shy-recluse girl. Couldn't we have met at the start of the week? This is all so sudden…

Tiger scratched his cheek. “Ah… I kind of got carried away and said we’d all meet him today. I maybe should’ve talked to you two as club members first, right? Ha, ha… that’s my bad.”

Paige’s eyelids lowered, and she turned over in her bed. Her screen then flickered off with a ‘Call Ended’ text flashing on her end.

“Oh… well, that’s an understandable response. But, knowing you Reina, you wouldn’t miss the meeting ri-“

I pressed the ‘End’ button on the call before he made me more annoyed than I already was. What seriously gave him the right to do something without my consent? This better not waste too much of my time. I’ve still got my date with Mom-

My eyes widened, and I stood up from my chair.

Lady Cheykina, I meant…

I picked up my Proatrix from the desk and slipped on the ring, scrolling through my contacts and ending on my mother’s number.

It’s been a while since I last talked to her. She usually called once a week to talk about expenses, my monthly allowance, and her itinerary, but since I moved here, she hasn’t even sent a single text. Maybe she’s just busy. I remember work kept her away from home many days at a time.

I sat down on my bed and clenched my hands together. My throat suddenly felt dry, along with a tingling feeling moving up my feet. Despite my churning stomach telling me no, I hit the ‘Call’ button and paced around my room.

What was I going to say? I don’t have a reason to talk to her, but should I need a reason? I’ll just… I’ll just say I wanted to hear her voice. That should be reason enough…

“… Hello? Reina, is that you?”

I stopped pacing and opened my mouth, but I couldn’t make out any words to say.

“If you will not talk, then I’ll have to hang up, Reina. I’m quite busy.”

“Hi, mom...” I said.

I rubbed my arm as a few seconds passed without either of us talking.

“Uh, it’s pretty nice here in New Tokyo! I enjoyed riding the bullet train as well. Dad was right, it-“

“Ugh. Why would you say his name?”

A pit opened up in my stomach.

I’m... such an idiot. I know she and her father aren’t on the greatest of terms right now. Why would I bring him up?

“I-I’m sorry, it’s just that it was... a nice... attraction here... the train I mean...”

A sigh echoed through the speaker.

“So is that all? You called me about a train and to bring up your worthless father?”

I felt myself getting tensed up, but I shook my head and attempted to smile.

“N-no... I just wanted to hear your voice…“

“You’re not a child, Reina. You shouldn’t need this much attention from your mother.”

“Yes, but...”

“I’m sure you can make some friends in that new district. Don’t call me unless you need-“

“I want to spend time with you!” I blurted out.

“...”

I began brushing through my hair while tapping my foot.

Why isn’t she saying anything? Did I mess up?

“I-I just meant that...”

The call screen turned red, meaning the other line hung up.

I collapsed onto the floor and crawled over to the side of my bed, resting my legs against my chest with a sigh. My chest hurt and my eyes watered, but I didn’t want to cry, so I kept hitting my head against my knee.

“She’s right, that was so pathetic... I shouldn’t beg her for attention. I’ll just stick to being by myself like always. It’s worked out thus far.”

I squinted my eyes and buried my face deeper into my legs.

“Why do I always mess things up with her?”