Sylvia Oddison was a well-renowned model in the fashion and entertainment industry. Born with a unique condition that caused her hair to be as white as snow, her enchanting looks and cool demeanor managed to land her her current spot as one of Indigo's top models. In fact, Sylvia was even nominated to represent Nael's home country of Gaushe as one of its most beautiful women. 

Sylvia had always retained a close relationship with Nael since they were kids. She was the only other orphan who often hung out with him and Stephanie. Their bond s a trio was unbreakable, and that continued to be so even as they reached adulthood. 

Even as the trio soewhat grew distant during the peak of Nael and Sylvia's careers, they still managed to keep in contact with each other. It was a friendship tat Nel knew wouldn't be broken so easily. 

She said she'dmeet me here. h, there she is. Nael waved to the girl across the street.

Sylvia seemed to notice him right away. She waved her hand in response and urged the boy to come to her. 

"Hey, Sylvie. How'v you been?"

Nael exchanged a friendly hug with Sylvia. The girl had grown to be a beautiful woman–much so that even he could not hide his slight interest in her. Her hair, tied in a sleek ponytail, dragged behind her back. Her attire was quite casual, consisting of a simple brown cardigan with a shirt, and a skirt that stopped just above her knees. 

"Wonderful, Nael! I haven't been accepting as many jobs as I used to because I wanted to take a bit of time to rest."

"Has the modeling game been cruel to you?" He asked with a concerned expression. "Don't push yourself, you won't like it when you collapse from exhaustion."

"I'm okay, really!" She waved her hands. "You're one to talk, hehe. Weren't you the one who passed out because you couldn't pull yourself away from playing The Jade Soul?"

"Bah, let's ignore that. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"Let's not get too hasty! I heard college stopped classes due to summer vacation. I know you're a diligent student, so why not take some time to relax? What did you do yesterday?"

As Nael and Sylvia talked, they continued walking with no sense of direction whatsoever. The two of them were focused only on catching up with each other. 

"I decided to give in to the urge and bought Antoria Online. I was playing it the whole day yesterday."

"Whoa, really? You were inside a Pod the whole day? Man, if I didn't ask you to come by, you'd have been inside it already, wouldn't you?"

"I choose to not answer this question, madame," Nael replied, laughing. "You play it too, don't you?"

The current population of Earth was close to fifteen billion. Compared to the active player base of Antoria Online, which was around seven billion, that meant around fifty percent of the world were players. 

"I do when I have time. I mostly spend my time relaxing on my private island–near the beach. I like to think of it as my resort, and a getaway!"

"Whoa, you own a private island? Where'd you get the money for that?"

Sylvia brought her finger to her lips and winked. "That's a secret, hehe. All I can say is I work for a very prominent guild as the guild master's secretary."

The difference in their social status was like night and day. While Nael was scrounging the crevices of some bookshelf in a room underground, Sylvia was working for a guild–and most definitely receiving a salary that rivaled that of millionaires. 

"Pity. I was spawned in Goldenleaf, so I've been working in a pub to make some money."

"Oh, you weren't spawned in Ssogdasyl? Most players are sent there when they finish creating their avatar. I would know, I was sent there." Sylvia questioned.

Huh. Now that's odd. I wonder how much easier my life would've been if I didn't spawn in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, at least I managed to find all my Artificer stuff. Makes it less painful. 

"Definitely wasn't. How was the Autumn Festival, by the way? I was told it would last a whole week." 

"It was fun! Our guild actually assisted in some of the preparations. I couldn't tell you how enjoyable it was to see the fireworks go off in the night sky and hear the Ssogdalians' parades ensue. Did I tell you about the lantern releasing, as well?"

"Not that I remember…?"

"Okay, so it goes like this…"

Sylvia then went on to explain some details about the Autumn Festival. While Sera had Messaged Nael basic information about Antoria, it was only the bare minimum. She only touched upon the festival for a sentence or two, before continuing on with a general analysis of Antoria's countries and cities. 

Basically, the Autumn Festival was meant as a way for Antorians to celebrate the coming of Autumnus–the Herald Of Winter. He was a prominent being in Antorian mythology, known for appearing to the general populace in order to inform them of the coming winter. 

During the last few months that they had before the frigid cold came, Autumnus encouraged people to gather as much food as possible. Over time, a festival was created in his honor and was celebrated every year. 

One of the Autumn Festival's events was the Lantern Releasing. People would bring with them paper lanterns modeled after hot air balloons. They would set off a fire inside the lanterns, which made them float. It was supposed to symbolize how they had removed themselves of concerns related to winter if they prepared accordingly. 

"Didn't think a festival would have that deep of a meaning. You just made me more fascinated by Antoria's lore."

"It is honestly surprising, really! We haven't even explored half of the planet, and yet there's so much information we've uncovered. It's become a habit of mine to cheer whenever we discover something." Sylvia smiled. "Oh, fancy some coffee, Nael? I know this particular cafe, and I can guarantee you their drinks are top-notch!"

Without realizing it, Nael and Sylvia had walked a long distance. They had managed to cross an entire neighborhood's worth of land, and they had reached a different district. Thankfully, they knew this place very well–a byproduct of having been raised by the streets.

"Yeah, sure, why not."

Just then, a ring began to sound from Nael's pocket. It was his phone–someone was calling him.

"Could you go on ahead inside, Sylvie? I've gotta take this."

"Alright! I'll make sure to put in your usual order."

With that, Sylvia entered the cafe, leaving Nael outside. He pulled out his phone to see who was calling him. 

Hey, it's Reid. Wonder what he wants. 

Without wasting time, Nael swiped left, allowing the call to proceed. 

"What's up, Reid? Did you need something?"

"You in the middle of something, Nael? Yo, my bad. I was going to ask you to hop on Antoria Online. Didn't you just get the game recently? I saw it on your list." 

Reid Griffin was another one of Nael's close friends. Unlike Stephanie and Sylvia, he wasn't an orphan. Nael had met him during his first eSports competition, where he defeated him and went on to claim the title as the winner. 

Since then, the two had been constantly battling in all sorts of tournaments. Their heated rivalry, while never once evolving into true hatred for each other, stayed at a professional level. Reid was the only rival of Nael's to give him a problem in tournaments. Their skills were both unmatched and so the two became known as the "Heavenly Duo" of gaming. 

Even after Nael had announced his retirement from eSports, Reid still maintained their friendship. With the "Demon" gone, only he was free to reign in competitive gaming. But soon, that grew boring as well. 

Without his rival to entertain and challenge him, Reid saw no further reason to continue competitive gaming. Just two months after Nael left, Reid retreated from the spotlight, permanently. 

"My bad. I'm outside with Sylvie right now, so I can't. I'm pretty far from any of the major cities anyway, so you won't find me right away if I join."

"Oh, that's cool, no problem. I have a teleportation scroll, so I can use it to travel to any settlement that I've discovered in Antoria. Where'd you last leave off?"

"Nah, don't teleport to me yet. I still need to prepare myself before I feel like I'm ready to face dangers. I'll tell you when I'm good. Actually, I'll probably head to you myself. Where are you based?"

"Aw, really? Fine, then. Guess I shouldn't just hard carry a newbie through the early game. Remember, though! You promised me a match someday. I'm at Ssogdasyl right now, so just ask around for the Antorian Order's HQ. I can't wait to kick your ass."

"In your dreams, buddy. I'm still the number one." Nael replied smugly.