Chapter Text
"Urgh...I'm so bored!"
Belle sluggishly lies down at the staff room's sofa, causing their bangboo named Six to jolt up from its slumber. Its yelp caught Belle's attention, shifting her position to face and chat with it.
Wise has been out to buy some groceries so she's got no one else to talk with at the moment. Bangboo 18 is busy at the counter and Eous is asleep at its usual charging corner in her room.
"Hey, Six...do you know any interesting things to do?" She asked, resting her left cheek on her palm. "Other than catching up some Zs that is." The confused bangboo could only tilt its head before shaking its head as a no.
What could the bangboo even do other than checking for security and always having a siesta time on the suitcase? Does Six have other hobbies? Come to think of it, Belle never once asked them what they do after work.
Not that it matters right now—she's currently having a crisis on how to spend her time while Wise is away.
Gaming? She did that a few hours ago on both mobile and console. She has played every single game where she can raise her scores. She had already beat Wise's record on every level, but knowing him he'll definitely surpass hers again. It made her even more unmotivated to keep her burning urge to get that sweet golden crown with her name next to it.
There’s no recent commissions from a certain proxy broker either. He has been awfully quiet after their mission last month. The payment wasn't exactly favorable for them, so he must be busying himself to find something worth offering to the siblings.
As for her friends, she could always ask them on the knock-knock app. However, most of them are offline and setting their status to ‘do not disturb’ for some reason. She doesn’t really want to bother them. Everyone has been busy with work or doing other important matters. Well…most of them are.
Perhaps once Wise is back, she could go out for a stroll or have a long trip somewhere with him. But an early vacation in this rainy season is not really ideal. The chilly weather had made her less energetic. It must have caused her brother to worry and immediately stormed out to buy necessities.
After a few more lazy scrolls on her phone with nothing but indecisive thoughts on what to do, Belle let out an exasperated sigh as she slumped further into the sofa.
"I should've just tagged along to Wise’s grocery shopping...at least I would've enjoyed browsing for things we won't need."
As she was about to put her phone back into her pocket, she felt it vibrate in her grasp and was then followed by the notification sound.
Hm? Did someone message me?
Upon checking her screen, a familiar name brought her dull expression back to its usual cheeriness.
"Harumasa?”
It’s none other than a certain young archer of the Hollow Special Operations Section 6, also a close friend of Wise and Belle, Asaba Harumasa. He’s a well known prodigy that excels on both bow and blade. Belle became friends with him after spending some time with him even when he sneaked out of the HSO Quarters or during his break.
She could only shake her head at the thought of him making up excuses whenever they met either by coincidence or on purpose. However…she believes he needed those moments where he could have the time to breathe.
May it be at the children’s rides, feeling the breeze at Port Elpsis, or watching movie videotapes at Random Play.
But since the rain had been pouring hard the whole day, she thought maybe he is as bored as she is.
“Why is he messaging me, though?"
Is his working hours over for the day? It’s still quite early to finish work.
Maybe he’s sneaking a quick chat to avoid the pile of paperworks.
He might also be taking this chance to avoid getting overworked. Either way, Belle chose to humor him even just for a moment.
Harumasa: [Hey there, proxy!]
Belle: [Heya! What's up?]
Harumasa: [Other than the sky? Well, there are gray clouds crying out here.]
The message after it is a winking emoji. Belle couldn't help but roll her eyes as she tapped on her screen.
Belle: [Ha ha. I’d rate that a 2 out of 10 for being unoriginal.]
Harumasa: [Yikes, I’m just kidding! But here's a serious one, promise!]
A giggle escaped her lips. Things seem to be a little different whenever Harumasa leaves her a message randomly. Just chatting with him makes her want to check up on the rest of section 6. It has indeed been a while since their last mission together.
But right now, everything is back to their usual busy days.
There were no disasters occurring nor hollow rescues as of late. That’s a good sign for yet another peaceful life at New Eridu.
Belle: [Aaand what could this “serious one” be? Spill the beans~]
Harumasa: [It’s not exactly serious-serious, but hear me out! You like games, right?]
Belle: [Yep! I gotta say I’m an expert on that subject. Why do you ask?]
There was a 2 minute pause after Belle's reply.
Could it be…he’s been caught by their deputy chief, Yanagi? Just imagining the scenario within their office where Harumasa is being scolded for constantly neglecting his work…It must have been a chaotic afternoon.
I wish I was there to laugh at his face right now.
Not that she enjoys him being a little helpless when facing Yanagi’s wrath—it’s the whole section 6’s vibe and they’re as close as a real family. Their relationship as a team makes it seem so.
While Belle is busy giggling at the thought of that scenario, Wise had already arrived at the backdoor of the store with groceries in hand. His shoes were completely drenched from rain while his clothes were protected by his gray rain coat. Even with the umbrella, the wind wasn't so forgiving—it left the young man’s face wet with beads of rainwater.
“Belle, you must’ve been cold ‘cause of the weather…” Wise shudders a bit after recalling the wind blowing his face on his way back to the store.
“I’ve got some cup noodles and chicken soup for us to dig in. Which one would you like to have tonight?” Placing the plastic bag down with all the things he had bought in haste, Wise took off his raincoat and hung it on the nearest coat rack outside.
He wouldn’t want to make a mess inside the store after all.
Hearing that her brother has arrived safely, Belle scurried over to his side to assist him with the groceries with a towel in hand for him to use.
“Nice! This should be enough to keep us warm. You bought a lot, huh? I should’ve gone with you—Oh, here’s your towel. You look like a wet cat that swam in a puddle,” After handing the towel, Belle puts the rest of the groceries inside the staff room while Wise removes his shoes and socks to dry it off.
“Hm? I thought you’ve been feeling a little out of the weather, so I went out to get you something along with the groceries…” Belle couldn’t help but smile at him. Of course, her family is also right here with her—giving all the warmth she needed during the coldest rainy season of the month.
“Are you alright? You haven’t been going out these days, so I thought you’re starting to catch a fever.” In Wise’s worry, he checked her temperature by pressing the back of his palm onto her forehead before confirming again on both sides of her neck. His cold hands made her flinch and immediately lightly tapped him to get his hands off.
“I-I’m fine, Wise! You wouldn’t really know if I’m burning up with your hands freezing from the cold,” After a few more checks on her temperature, Wise let out a sigh of relief.
“Just to be safe, I bought some medicine.”
“Like I said, I’m fine! I’m just…feeling a little bored with nothing to do…” Belle crossed her arms, pouting at him for worrying too much. But she still appreciates his genuine concern about her well being.
When Wise is about to say something, her knock-knock notification starts to ring twice.
“Oh, Harumasa replied,” Her mood changed drastically at the sight of his name. Wise noticed her face lighting up whenever Harumasa was mentioned or when he visits from time to time. It seems to him she had grown fond of that archer of Section 6.
He doesn’t dislike the idea of Belle having more friends close to their age. He just wanted her to be happy and be lively as always. And yet something feels different about her this time.
“Did something come up?”
“Well…” The end of her lips stretched into a wide smile as soon as she read Harumasa’s message. Giving Wise a look, she showed her screen “It’s something interesting!”
At last, I can finally say goodbye to this boring day…!
The next morning, Belle started her day by preparing their car at the parking lot. The message she received yesterday from Harumasa urged her to visit the HIA Club for an important request. Apparently, they were being invited to try out their new VR game for beta testing. No wonder Harumasa asked that question before.
Not to mention, they were recommended by Section 6 themselves!
[We’ve tested the battle feature of the VR. And you won’t believe how immersive the game was!]
[Of course, It’s much better if you learn what the hype was all about yourself in person~]
[You don’t like spoilers right, proxy? It’s best that I leave all the yapping to the HIA staff when you do accept.]
And naturally, Belle accepted the invite. Harumasa did a great job to not leak any drop of info about the new game HIA has been cooking. Now she’s more curious and hooked than ever.
With her sitting at the driver’s seat, Wise double checks the wheels and the engine. After a while, the car is thoroughly checked and is safe to use.
“It looks good to go. Be careful on your way there, I’ve heard a few accidents happening on the road,” Wise said as he looked at his sister worryingly. The rain has relentlessly grown heavier than usual. There seems to be a storm coming to New Eridu.
Belle adjusts herself on the driver’s seat before fastening her seatbelt and placing her hand on the steering wheel. “Don’t worry, bro! I’ll be careful. Are you sure you don’t want to join me?” Wise shook his head in response.
“Someone has to stay and keep the store running,” He smiled at her and gave her a pat on the shoulder.
“Aren’t you also a passionate gamer, Wise? You don’t get a chance like this to try out new games as a beta tester!” There’s a hint of hesitation on Wise’s face. It made her even more mischievous to tease him to come along.
“Come onnn…it’ll be fun! You’re much better of a critic than I am, you know? Where’s the game expert Wise when the HIA needed him most?” Nudging him with her elbow while throwing some jokes, as if pushing him further to hop in the car right away, Wise broke into a chuckle.
“Besides, we always try out new things together. I don’t want you to feel left out by remaining inside the store.”
With him still not responding to Belle’s sweet pleas, Wise glanced at the store before turning back his gaze to his sister. Wise all alone in the dimly lit staff room…Not many customers eager to visit due to the storm hitting Sixth Street…Wi-Fi getting slower due to the weak signal caused by the rain and strong winds…That doesn’t seem like an ideal way to relax and enjoy the peace he’ll have while Belle’s away.
“Master, according to my recent calculations over the past month, the probability of second assistant Wise dying of boredom is at 90%.” Fairy, their AI assistant, intervened from her phone between the siblings’ conversation to support Belle’s attempt to convince him to spend time with her.
“Additionally, I find it extremely uncomfortable being bossed around by a fellow Assistant who is one rank below me.” Belle began to burst out laughing at Fairy’s honesty. Wise couldn’t say anything but frown at Fairy’s image popping at the car’s GPS.
“Alright, alright…I’ll come with,” Wise defeatedly accepted Belle’s request to spend time with her at the HIA Club. After all these years, he still couldn’t bring himself to say no to her. After knowing that not everyone is available to hang out with her due to the terrible weather, he might as well accept the offer.
“Yay! With us together to play the game, we’ll definitely have a blast.”
“I’ll go bring extra hand warmers for us and check on Eous and the rest to handle the store while we’re away,” After letting Belle know before they set off to Lumina Square, Wise hummed on his way back inside the store to fetch the stuff they need for the trip. This rain will surely delay their arrival at the HIA building, so it’s better to be safe.
Belle decided to unbuckle her seatbelt from the driver’s seat and moved to the passenger’s to leave some room for Wise. She thought it’s better to let him drive this time. After everything had been settled and done, Wise returned with his coat on with hand warmers in his pocket and umbrellas in hand. Stopping on his tracks, he noticed Belle had switched seats and waved at him excitedly. That sight warmed his heart more from this gloomy and cold day.
He thought he made the right decision to give in to her charms and choose to spend the day with his sister to have fun doing what they enjoy in life. Finally hopping into the driver’s seat, Wise shut the car’s door and handed over a pair of hand warmers to Belle.
“Do we have everything we need?”
Both seatbelts fastened, hands already warmed, umbrellas and phones fully charged, the bangboos have already been informed about their trip.
“Yep! Everything’s right here.” Belle said as she gave her bag a pat.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“HIA Club, you’re amazing beta testers are on their way!” Once the engine started, the siblings began their trip to Lumina Square.
A few hours have already passed and they finally managed to park their car. Although they could only park underground as their usual parking spot has been taken over. They have been stuck in traffic for half an hour as some roads have been blocked due to the recent incident of vehicles sliding off the road.
They were fortunate enough to be able to reach HIA Club without encountering any further delays. With an umbrella in hand, the siblings hurriedly got out of their car and carefully walked towards the entrance of the HIA building.
As soon as the automated door slides open, one of the staff greeted them with an expectant smile.
“You’ve arrived! We’ve been waiting for you. Come sit and have something warm to drink,” the siblings weren’t given the chance to speak and were immediately pulled to the sofas to have a seat. There were displays of equipment with banners on the wall and a spinning trophy right before them.
The two gave each other quick glances, surprised by the way they were being treated as guests. Eventually, hot cocoa was served after their coats were removed to be dried off.
Is this what it feels like to be treated as VIPs?
As Belle was about to say something, she was swiftly interrupted by the staff.
“Before I start briefing you with your task as beta testers, I’d like to introduce myself,” the staff cleared her throat, “I’m Becca and I’m one of the devs for the new game called The Lunar Curse!”
“That’s…pretty new for the HIA Club to give their game an ominous title…It’s usually something like a Battle Tower or Combat Simulations,” Wise suddenly felt nervous as he muttered the title of the new game they’re about to test out.
“That’s because this Virtual Reality game is set in a different environment! It is for the purpose of training both future and existing void hunters how well they will adapt in an unfamiliar setting, may it be outside or within the Hollow.”
The HIA Club has been collecting data from new to existing void hunters to test the combat simulations within the game since yesterday.
According to Becca, one of the important characters in the game is based on Section 6 members and other well known factions. And with Belle and Wise in the picture, it would make sense for them to be part of the NPCs in the game. After all they aren’t really skilled fighters let alone have the stamina for combat.
“So…the data you have collected from yesterday are meant for creating an identical copy of void hunters as one of the main characters in the game?” Becca showed a thumbs up to Belle enthusiastically.
“That’s right! And with you two here as our beta testers, we’d also like to collect some of your data as NPCs inside the game as you play.” Wise and Belle looked at each other, seeming to be skeptical. Not only will they play the game, they’ll also play as NPCs?
“Worry not, what we will only collect is your physical movements for the NPCs animation within the game. That way we will be able to apply it to other existing NPCs!” Glancing at the siblings while being the only one excited among them, Wise and Belle who has been slightly tense eased up.
“O-Oh, then I guess that’s fine with me,” Wise eventually approved and Belle soon followed. “I approve as well!”
“Great! Then shall we move to the simulation chamber?” When Belle is about to stand up, Wise taps her hand on the table to catch her attention.
“You go on ahead, I’ll finish this drink first and follow you there after,” With a firm nod, Becca led her to the back of the HIA main area where the Simulation Room resides.
There were large helmet-like stations where they can enter and experience other immersive games that are specifically meant for training. As for the data collecting, there’s a similar station found at the corner of the room where a hologram of the game title is shown. It was almost unnoticeable due to the text being slightly transparent.
But the way it flickers made Belle kind of uneasy for a moment. She doesn’t know why she felt that way upon staring at the hologram.
Becca then gestured at her to put on a gear on her head before going inside to stand on the platform. While tapping on the floating screen, Becca began explaining the gist of the game.
“Just as I have mentioned, The Lunar Curse is a VR game that is still under development. You as our current beta tester will be testing the game as a nameless player—” With one final tap on her screen, a slanted bed emerges at the back of the station Belle is in.
“Please lie down here and take your time to get comfortable! Once you’re ready, close your eyes as we wait for the simulation to load.” After following the rest of Becca’s instructions, Belle shut her eyes and waited. The gentle humming of the station she’s in is beginning to make her slightly drowsy.
And before she knew it, she had drifted into sleep.
.
.
.
.
Bzzt—
Huh? What was that?
After hearing a strange noise, it was covered by a jingle indicating that the game had started. Belle fluttered her eyes open, however, she found it difficult to completely open them. It was as though she felt extremely weak, unable to fully be conscious.
What’s going on? Has the game started already?
Zzzt—BzzZZt…
W-What…Where is that noise coming from?
As Belle made another attempt to force herself to wake up, a smell of smoke tickled her nose. At first she thought something went wrong with the gear she’s wearing or the simulation station she’s in. But this doesn’t seem like the smell of burning electric wires.
This smells like…
With a few more inhales, Belle’s vision went back to normal as the gray sky shrouded in smoke came into view. Her eyes wandered until she saw embers floating around coming from a certain direction. As she tried to refocus her sight at the source of the smoke, her ears began to ring loudly followed by a throbbing headache.
Her body that was once felt like it wasn’t there eventually began to react from immense pain.
“Urgh…” Belle groaned in response to her senses finally reverting back to normal.
Wow, I gotta give it to the HIA Club staff—this pain is far too realistic…!
“Aren’t…ow…aren’t simulation games not supposed to be…inflicting injuries with activated pain sensors?” Belle feebly sat up to get a good look at her limbs and her attire.
Her nails were coated in dirt, orange cuffs with teal ribbon wrapped around her wrists, black fingerless gloves with golden accents extending to her elbows, knee and thigh high socks with black boots adorned with thin braided orange ropes, and…what’s this?
A…yukata? Wait, I'm not sure what this one’s called. It looks like I'm a ninja or something—
Her waist is wrapped by a teal scarf tied clumsily in ribbon. It is also tied with a white and orange gradient tassel hanging on a jade ornament. It has Japanese characters engraved on its surface and a symbol of a clam.
“This is too short to be called a yukata…But I think I know the setting of the game right now.”
Then, she reaches for her hair. Her deep blue locks felt slightly frizzy with few split ends, but it seemed to be longer than its usual length. It has a thin braid on her left side of her bangs and a clam pin holding it in place. She also has a half ponytail with a length past her shoulder level.
Belle concludes her inspection before glancing up to her surroundings. Due to the thick smoke, she coughed from inhaling too much as it had reached her throat. Gosh she’s all covered in soot and hair all messy. She couldn’t care less about her appearance right now—what matters is that she has to know whether the game has started already.
Is this how the game starts? No prologue description whatsoever?
While fanning the smoke away from her face, she began walking on the path where the smoke is coming from. “Where exactly am I…?” Uncertain where she should go next, the same jingle began to play once again.
“Welcome, Player Beta Tester. You have successfully reached your destination to trigger the first part of the story.” A female robotic voice began to echo out of nowhere, alerting Belle to look around her in search of it.
“That voice…Fairy?”
What is Fairy doing here?
“Player Beta Tester must proceed further to reach the source of the explosion in just 120 meters.”
There was an explosion?!
Belle took a quick check on herself again and confirmed the situation the game has set her up in. “Was I sent flying there ‘cause of the impact?!” Confused, she hesitantly resumed walking north while the smoke was still visible for her to follow. After taking at least 5 steps, a ping sound rang twice, stopping her on her tracks.
“Due to Player Beta Tester’s unstable state, NPCs around the area will load after a quick inspection of the area. Please stare intently at the center of your field of vision.”
“What a way to start the game…” Following what ‘Fairy’ said despite the confusion, Belle squinted her eyes to focus them in the middle of the empty field. After a few seconds, the smoke began to get thinner. Her vision has been enhanced after keeping her focus on one thing from a distance. And then…a scream rang from her hind.
As soon as she turned around, the NPCs mentioned by ‘Fairy’ finally emerged from the smoke in panic.
“The curse…The curse is here…!” There was a man dressed in teal and was also covered in soot flailing his arms in horror as he ran towards Belle, grabbing her shoulders tightly. “It has come to plague us all! You must run…RUN!” The man’s pupils staring right at her were unevenly dilated. He also has a severe wound on his head and ears bleeding out.
“What…” More people were all running away from the source of the smoke. The man who has been gripping on her shoulders has let go, scurrying away from the scene.
But when Belle turned around to look at the north once more, a large raging fire revealed itself from the smoke, engulfing the rest of the trees and huts around her.
“Terrain loaded successfully. The full map of Player Beta Tester’s hometown, TealToad Town, has been unlocked.” The whole town is in the middle of a crisis. Children crying, women and men alike carrying what they have—it made Belle recall the things she wished she had forgotten.
But since this is just a game…
Looking at the empty gray sky, Belle closed her eyes as she tried to accept whatever the game had in store. Yet at this very moment she’s still aching all over while confused and lost about what was happening.
“Becca…Shouldn’t you have at least informed me about the game plot first?!”
