KON POV

Right now, we’re having lunch on the rooftop, but things are slightly different than usual. A new person has joined us, and she’s a pervert. So today, I’m having lunch with Elizabeth, two monkeys, and a pervert.

“Aww, Kon goes all gloomy now. Don’t worry, there is no set schedule for our modeling sessions. We will discuss this every time a new inspiration comes up. For now, this much material is good enough to last me a couple of weeks.” Kuro clarified.

“……that’s good to know.”

“Speaking of which, I have set up an order of Air Scroll. Your specification is doable, but it will take some time.”

“That’s fine, my budget is only enough for a standard installation. The fact that you managed to push my order so high up the priority list is already good enough for me. Thank you, Kuro.”

“Ahan, if you wanna thank me, then how about another modeling session? I have various cosplay that I want you to try.”

“……” I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just kept quiet. I pretended I didn’t hear and went to explain to the rest of the team why I wanted an Air Scroll.

“Is that why you asked for plugin installation on your SpeedOptix? To chart a 3D arrow map path during a race?” Venti asked.

“Yes, until I realize how difficult it is to parkour with one hand while holding a tiny pad for drawing. At least with an Air scroll, I don’t have to hold anything and I can freely draw on air without focusing too much on where I should move my fingers.”

“Hooo, that’s our Pathfinder for ya.”

There’s another reason why I wanted an Air Scroll. I can turn off its public opacity to zero, and people will never know what I am doing or seeing, when in fact, I will be calculating and planning various information that I stored and can call upon at a moment’s notice. The problem is the storage unit. I’d rather not carry around a briefcase of hardware everywhere I go. So for now, aside from the charting feature, data can only be stored and called in the form of texts. No fancy graphs, statistics, or various 3D images for now.

Come to think of it, when I first saw the magician on television, his fingers kept twitching while he was looking around, didn’t he? I thought he was using an Air Scroll at first, but I didn’t see him carrying around any portable storage. Hmm, I’ll need to check on that later.

“Alright, now that we all are here, show me your SpeedGear. Wear it and stand together as a team. A Relaxed position is fine. Do whatever pose you most feel comfortable with.” Kuro said.

Each of us arrived at the rooftop carrying our briefcases. Inside them, we had our usual sets of SpeedGear and SpeedOptix Glasses, except for Elizabeth. Her briefcase held a SonnetSoul Choker and an additional AssistGear, designed as an extendable stick that snaps into a Cane Umbrella Stand. The only distinction from a regular umbrella is the single ball-bearing Gear attached to the end of the cane rest.

I can imagine her hooking it to the side of a ledge with the cane and wall running with it. That’s a pretty clever idea. Anything that can help ease the stress of performing a trick is a welcomed addition for Diva.

We conducted thorough testing, including a stress test, back at Dongu’s place. After a few minor adjustments, our order was considered complete. At the time, I was still unsure about accepting Dongu’s commission. However, he assured me that there was no deadline or expiry date attached to it, so I decided to leave it at that for the time being. Somehow, I could sense his confidence that I would eventually accept his offer, whether sooner or later.

Here we are, on the Academy rooftop, gearing up for a photoshoot. After outfitting ourselves with the necessary gear, Zack positioned himself in the center, with Elizabeth to his left and me to his right. Venti took up a position in front of us, squatting down like a Yankee, right in the middle of Zack and me. I made sure to space myself a bit further from Zack to cover a larger area.

“Hmm, not bad. Kon you sure you don’t want to space further away? I can’t see your Gear you know?” Kuro questioned

“That’s fine. Keep it hidden.”

“Gosh, you have such a paranoid mentality. They can still check your account Bio you know?” Zack exclaimed

“Then I hope the extra steps will annoy them.” I shrugged.

“Alrighty, almost perfect, hmm. Elizabeth please move closer to Zack.” Kuro gestured to us to position ourselves better for the 3D photo capture.

“O-ok, desuwa.”

“Nice, perfecto. Now stay still for a moment.”

The 3D photo will be featured across our marketing channels, including OurTube and various social media platforms. Currently, Kuro has her Air Scroll set to private, but the floating panels are visible at 100% opacity since we’re outdoors.

I suppose Air Scroll users might choose to turn on their opacity, either to show off how deep their pocket is or to avoid being perceived as eccentric for gesturing without an apparent reason. However, as Air Scroll becomes more mainstream and gains more end-users, this behavior might change.

Kuro started tapping on the air panels a few times before she began to move around us in a slow circle, reminiscent of a shark circling a caged diver. Occasionally, she would lower herself into a lateral squat walk to capture a lower angle for our picture. With one hand, she adjusted a panel in front of her face, holding it as if it were an invisible camera.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Is it necessary to go that low desuno?” Elizabeth tried to pull down her skirt.

“Fanservices are important.”

“Fanservice desuka?”

“Yes, it is the appetizers of justice. The preview of life.”

“Justice desuno! Can I do anything to make it better desuka?”

“Oh yes, you definitely can! Straighten your chest, ok good. Now push out your buttock and spread your leg for a tiny bit. Not too much, subtlety is important here. Rest on your leg slightly to give it a flare of confidence. Nice. More passion on that face. I want to see PASSION!” The pervert rambled.

I should say something here, but looking at Elizabeth’s innocent happy face, I don’t have the heart to open my mouth. On the other hand, these assholes right next to me are having fun snickering to themselves with their shoulders shaking and all.

Minor sexual harassment done, Kuro repeated the same gestures as before, activating the visibility setting to public mode so that we could see it without needing the plug-and-play accessory. Our SpeedOptix Glasses could decode the panels and holograms perfectly well.

It’s the 3D image of our standing poses. Each person in the image was separated as a layer and edited individually. We were busy ooh-ing and aah-ing at Kuro’s process of lighting and color adjustments to make the image more presentable.

“Alright, this will do for the OurTube channel preview, we will do more once the uniform and the team badge are complete.” Kuro nodded.

“Wait, have we discussed the terms of payment for your services?” I asked.

“Hoo, are you that eager to model for me? Just kidding, you don’t have to make that face. Zack and I agreed on the cut for every product I made in the team’s name. It’s the standard 30/70. We can iron out the details along the way, including the team’s future streaming platform.”

“…... Does it include the modeling service?”

“Nope.”

Thought so, it’s worth a try at least.

Fortunately, Kuro is open to further negotiation after the contract is finalized. That’s the mindset of a veteran freelancer (drifter) for you. There are still tons of things that need to be straightened out, such as how she will be involved in streaming activities and how the revenue will be split among the group. I’ll leave it to Zack and Elizabeth to decide.

“Alright, that’s all done. What do you guys plan on doing next?” Kuro shuts off her Air Scroll.

“*Ahem*, Now that we have our own SpeedGear, it’s time to grab ourselves a district!” Zack declared.

“Huh, is District something you can just grab? Elizabeth, you know this?” She turned to Elizabeth.

“No, I don’t desuyo. This is the first I heard about it too desuwa.”

“Hmm, I want Venti to elaborate on it but I doubt it will be anything other than him being an Ouk Ouk.”

“Hey, I did other things too! Like disciplining idiots who misbehave!” Venti shook his fists.

“Can’t be helped. Kon, it’s your turn!”

He snaps a pointed finger at me while standing in a weird pose. What the heck are you doing? Oh well.

“Let me break down the district system in relation to sector sizes first. As you all know, each sector typically contains around 10-30 districts. The majority of Outer sectors are nearly twice as large as the Inner sectors, so we divided them into two layers: the middle ring and the outer ring. The inner sectors make up the inner ring.

After the team’s official formation, we can designate our team’s main district of operation, essentially our HQ. This will be the primary location for our commission work and expanding our influence. While we can still operate in other districts, the advantages of focusing on our established district are significant. Zack, you mentioned you had this part covered, right?”

“Yep, Venti and I have decided to have Coli District as our main of operation. The district where my home is. We have spent the past few years clearing it of intruders.”

“So our HQ will be the Melty Café?”

“Yep Yep.”

I want to question what Zack and Venti mean by clearing the district of intruders, but at the same time, I rather not. Let’s just hope that they both practiced some self-restraint and it was just a couple of friendly matches.

Although, I have to agree with them that Coli District is the most suitable choice for our current team. My place’s district is a no-go since it’s in the inner ring where it’s under a large guild’s jurisdiction. Elizabeth’s district might work but it’s rife with inner-ring corpo politics. Venti’s home district is under Zephyr’s influence. So that leaves Zack’s home district where he lives with Momo and her mother.

Wait, is Momo’s mother OK with it?

“Does that mean we have the entire district for ourselves desuka?” Elizabeth tilted her head.

“Yes and no. The majority of districts are a cohabitation between several teams or parties. Official teams have a Matchmade Speed Rating (MSR) attached to their account. Each month, they need to accept at least one battle to update their MSR. If it goes up, they enjoy more benefits; if it goes down, the benefits diminish until they’re no different from non-official teams. Eventually, they might disband, unless they’re just in it for fun.”

“So that’s why some of them keep on merging with other teams or parties on every win until they become as large as a guild?” Kuro questioned.

“Yes, that is how the majority of the guilds are formed. It starts as a team. As the MSR goes higher, they realize they can pursue more from area grabs, netting them even more MSR. At a certain threshold of MSR, the quota of once per month battle will be increased to once per 3 weeks and so on. Higher risk, larger districts to cover, better reward.”

“So you are saying that sooner or later we will have to form a guild?”

“Not really. There are other ways that a team or a party can obtain MSR faster without growing bigger in number. Tournaments are one of them. Fighting against far higher ranked Guild is another. A Feat that propels you to become an Elite. Quality over Quantity so to speak. You can even take on an official commission from a corpo but I don’t recommend it.

Seika is a great example of this. They have 4 districts under their thumb, not including the academy club, but their main members are the size of a full party. Branching out to a sub-team like a clubroom academy is one way to keep the numbers from bloating up. There are of course restrictions on what the sub-team can and cannot do.

Also in case you didn’t know, A team consists of 3-10 people. A party consists of 11-20 people. A small-sized guild consists of 21-50 people. Mid-sized consists of 51-100. Large-sized consists of 101 and above.

Right now, for each district under Seika’s influence, they have to battle it out with other rivals who want a slice of it every week or so. So yes, right now Seika is under preservation mode and their MSR climb is currently linear and steady. Let’s see……the slot for a battle with Seika is fully booked until 3 months from now.”

I tapped on to my tablet and showed them the battle booking interface on the official website. The guild around them is employing the tactic of wearing them down with small and continuous battles until a final decisive attack. It is an Attrition warfare. I doubt it would work on Seika though. They are labeled as an Elite Party for a reason.

But of course, there are ways to bypass the idea of having to fight your neighbor all the time. Money and Favor. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer as they say. That’s what the collaboration between teams, parties, and guilds is for after all.

I wonder if there are any nice teams we could collaborate with in Coli Districts.