Jisha braced herself.
Once that door opened, anything could show up.
"*NEEEEIIIIIGH*"
"Iliova! Back! Back!"
"*NEEEEEEEIGH*"
"Yet I still couldn't anticipate this..."
Out of the tens of pets, a hyperactive pony named Iliova was the first to show itself.
Most of Syn's pets couldn't survive in the wild on their own, but this pony was one of the exceptions. With its fine furs, layers of fat, and somewhat stocky build, it was an expert of retaining body heat. Their adorable appearance made them more sought-after as domesticated animals than regular horses.
"Yes, yes, good girl..." Syny said as she hugged the pony's mane.
Syn's black-and-silver hair next to the pony's silver-golden hair only accentuated the cuteness...
*Don't blame me for this.*
Jisha snapped a picture with her AR contacts.
*CLICK*
"Hey! Delete that!!!!"
Syny ran over to Jisha and shook her violently.
"Ahwawa cooomeee onnn, Synnnnnn...."
"Hmph. Fine, but..."
*CLICK*
"Hey!"
It was Jisha's turn to become flustered.
"Payback!!!!"
"Delete that!"
For the next few minutes, the two fought over who could take more pictures of the other.
"Ugghhh...."
Jisha fell onto her back, exhausted.
"Tsk, tsk. You need some exercise," Syny said as she shook her head. "Come to dance practice next time."
Jisha groaned. Her young self had always found traditional dances embarrassing!
However, the more the current Jisha pondered it, the less it seemed like a bad idea.
Like anything performed at a high level, graceful dancing was not easy. It was the expert's job to make a difficult task look simple.
Her physical fitness was abysmal, and dances would help her develop strong balance and fine motor movements. It might not seem like it, but enhancing bodily control would help her martial arts as well.
But...
"Do you like dancing?" Jisha asked.
In her previous life, Syn would always complain about how her mother forced her to attend dance lessons, so it was odd she'd bring it up out of her own volition.
"If Jishi joins me, I'll love it!"
"Hm?"
*No hesitation...? It's worth a shot.*
Dance lessons would enhance her physical capability and strengthen bonds with her friend... It would be dumb to reject this opportunity!
"Okay."
"Huh?"
"I said okay," Jisha said, smiling.
Syny's eyes widened.
"WAAAAAAAAAAA JISHAAAAAAAAAA-"
"Ah, wait-!"
With comically exaggerated crying, she dove on top of Jisha just like she had in the VR room. However, this was real life!
"Oof- Syn- Mercy-!"
Jisha vehemently tapped the ground in an attempt to get her friend to leave her.
The hug was constricting, but...
*I guess it's not so bad...*
"Alright!" Syny said as they stood up. "The next lesson's tomorrow!"
"That soon?"
"Uh huh. No backing out now."
"Wasn't planning on it."
"Hmm..."
"I promise."
"Well if you *promise*, it's a deal!" Syny said as she slapped Jisha on the back. "For now, let's go ghost hunting!"
*She really can't stay on one subject for too long, can she? I'll ask about the details later.*
For now, she would just go with the chaotic flow. What was going to happen next? No one could be sure, but it was unlikely to be boring.
"Ghost hunting?"
"Remember? The new Ghost Hunt game that came out for full-dive? Don't tell me you're scaaaared?"
Jisha had almost no recollections of this game. Other than the fact that it existed, nothing else was memorable.
"Come on! Bye, Iliova!"
Syny grabbed Jisha's arm and dashed into another room.
A lonely barracuda swam in its aquarium, and a small cake lay in front.
"Alright, let's sing! Happy birthday to you ~"
*Weren't we supposed to go ghost hunting?*
There was no rhyme or reason to Syny's plans; after the miniature birthday celebration, Syny was eager to show off more of her pets. Afterwards, they played with a couple of new nanomachine toys like Stable Sand.
Finally, just as Jisha thought the ghost hunting plan was canceled, Syny showed Jisha to her VR room.
"Ooh..."
Jisha stared at a new white-and-green helmet that was still sealed in its box.
"Yep, I got it early! That's why you came, right? To see the new helmet!"
"Not exactly... It *is* nice, though."
The Vbian-03, the latest model in the series, sat right next to several of its Vbian-02 predecessors. It was strange seeing such an old piece of technology boxed up like it was a brand-new state-of-the-art product. The only Vbians 10 years from now would be regarded as garbage.
"Anyway, you wanna try?" Syny asked as she offered the Vbian-03 to Jisha.
Syny got the helmet early, hadn't even tried it on herself, and was offering to be the second one to use it? Maybe young Jisha, as a social blockhead, would have accepted the offer. However, politeness aside, she'd already experienced far greater technologies.
"Oh, no, go ahead. It's yours."
"Okie then. Sit over there. See ya!"
Syny jumped into a VR-specialized hammock, put on the helmet and went limp.
"Really, there's no downtime with her around."
With 5 Vbian-02s lining the shelves and 5 hammocks to go along with them, finding a spot to lie down wasn't an issue. After settling in a hammock and slipping on the familiar helmet, her mind dove into the virtual world.
---
*>Synycal has invited you to play "Ghost Hunt".*
*>Accept/Reject*
*Accept!*
"Haha, finally!" Syny said as Jisha's avatar materialized in Ghost Hunt's main menu.
Jisha resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Finally"? It hadn't even been a minute!
"One sec, I'm inviting Rae."
"Rae?"
"Hehe, of course! She told me she wouldn't be scared, so she's joining us."
*Rae... Rae... Who?*
It wasn't just pets, but the amount of friends Syny had was also impossible to keep up with.
Before long, a girl with short yellow-orange hair and glasses appeared in the lobby.
"Huh? She-? You have another friend here?" Rae asked.
"Don't mind her, she's just another scaredy-cat who said she could handle it. Hahahaha!"
"Wait, are you talking about me?" Jisha asked. Had she been a scaredy-cat in addition to being an airhead?
"Playing it tough, are we?" Syny asked. "You're the one who tried to forget this game existed!"
"Well, that..."
"Anyway, we're here now. Let's start!"
"Wawawawawait! Let- Let's read the instructions first?" Rae asked.
*She's already shaking. Now that I think about it...*
Jisha looked around.
Even the main menu's environment was unsettling.
The time period was likely the early Industrial Age, as there was no technology in the room besides a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Its non stop flickering and buzzing greatly affected the room's visibility.
They were inside a small wooden shed with tiny glassless windows. The wind outside howled through the night sky, emitting loud whistling noises as it passed through the windows.
Rae shivered.
*The room's what, 13 degrees?*
With the wind chill, it nearly felt like 10.
"Pfft, instructions? Who has time to read all that boring stuff?" Syny said.
"I'm inviting someone else!" Rae suddenly said as she frantically scrolled through her friends list.
"Hmph. Suit yourself. But we're starting right away!"
Before long, another avatar appeared in the lobby.
Like a baby rabbit, Rae took her opportunity to jump behind this new shield - a boy with jet-black hair and all-black attire.
*Nope, don't recognize either of these two.*
"Save me, Keith!"
"Keith?" Syny asked. "Who's this, Rae?"
"My boyfriend," Rae said as she looked at Keith with starry eyes.
"You turned 14, Rae?" Syny asked.
Rae nodded.
"Happy birthday! You've got the same birthday as Barry!"
Meanwhile, Keith looked bewildered, but Syn didn't care. As the party leader, she forced everyone to enter the game.
The system whisked the four of them away to the edges of a forest at dusk.
"Ah, much better..." Rae said.
The temperature was now a comfortable 20 degrees, but the setting sun wouldn't allow it to stay like this for very long.
"So... What difficulty are we playing on?" Keith asked.
"Ultra-Nightmare!" Syny said cheerily.
"..."
"..."
"..."
A chilling breeze rustled the nearby leaves.
Rae once again clung to Keith for safety.
*As much as he wants to put on the tough guy act, he's shaking, too.*
"Actually... I forgot I had plans-" Rae started.
"Okay, okay, that was a joke! It's on Easy, okay? Relax! Who do you think I am?"
Rae was clearly not amused, and Keith tried playing off his fear.
"Haha, good one, Scion Cyta... Rae, we'll be fine, see? As for you, Jish- Princess Slyker, will you be fine?"
*??*
How was her identity leaked?
Jisha frantically checked her username.
*>Username: jiiiiiiish123456_____*
*Well that explains it.*
In this life, she hadn't changed her online username from the one she set when she was 6 years old.
However, there was something else that didn't slip by her.
Despite recognizing her, Keith nearly referred to her by first name.
*Please don't try to get familiar with me.*
There was no room in this life for valueless relationships.
She nodded in response to Keith's question but spoke no further.
"Alright, everything settled?" Syny asked. "Let's go hunt some ghosts!"
Without waiting for anyone else, she waltzed into the forest alone.
Keith briefly glanced back, but eventually took Rae's hand and tagged along leaving Jisha all alone.
Thanks for the chapter!~
Thanks for reading - rz
As long as you update at all, I'll be thankful. Thanks fir the chapter!
Thanks for reading - rz