"MIKA WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"
"I-I don't know..." Mika sniffed.
"Unlock the log out function right now!"
"O-Okay..."
I opened up the game's menu and the log out function popped into view. I pressed it and my heart nearly stopped as I waited for the loading screen to end...and it returned with an error.
"Error – Cannot establish connection." I read as I felt the blood drain from my face.
…
I tried again but the same error popped up.
"Senpai...I'm sorry..." Mika squeaked.
"No, no there has to something we can do."
"Y-Your heart isn't beating..."
"Preform chest compressions!" I cried, "We need to restart the heart!"
"I-It's been a few minutes though?!"
"Do it anyway!"
"I-I-I don't know how to do...what was it, chest compressions?" Mika's voice grew distant as the sound of items being scattered about in a panic got caught by the mike.
"Push down on the chest! At least two inches deep! In a rhythm!"
"W-What kind of rhythm?!"
"Do it to the beat of Stayin Alive!"
"I don't know that song!"
"How do you not know Stayin Alive by the Bee Gees?!"
"I don't listen to a lot of modern foreign music!"
"Damn you and your uncultured tastes!"
After a hysterical few minutes, we managed to stabilize a heartbeat. Mika and I laid down on the floor, exhausted from the desperation of the last few minutes.
"I'm...I'm going to try logging out again..." I said as I reached up and weakly pressed the log out button.
Error – Cannot establish connection
"It's still not working..." I moaned as I held my head in my hands.
"Senpai...I'm sorry..." Mika sniffed.
"..."
"Senpai?"
"Don't talk to me."
"No, senpai, please don't be like that!" Mika sobbed, "I'm sorry!"
"Shut up!" I snapped, "I'm going to sleep! Maybe this is all just a bad dream."
"Sniff...then...what should I do?"
"Figure that out yourself."
"...I guess I should hide the body..."
"Don't you dare put me in a grave you hear me?!" I cried, "I'm not dead yet!"
"Yes..." Mika said, depressed, "I'll shut off the game now."
"No wait, don-"
When I woke up again, I was still in the cave where I defeated the bear. I couldn't hear anybody's voice, much less Mikamina's. I got up, my mind still unable to process what had happened to me. Numbly, I moved to leave the cave, unsure of where I could go. Where I could call home.
"Welcome to Veiluria, traveler!"
I silently hugged Gerda, hiding myself among her bountiful bosom as my mind continued to process my situation. No matter how much time passed, I felt like I couldn't understand nor accept what had happened to me. I was just a normal programmer. Working on a normal VRMMO. After a normal 72 hours of work, I had to work a normal extra 24 hours dedicated to debugging. And now I'm stuck in the game. ...Okay so maybe some of that latter stuff wasn't that normal.
I turned up as I rested on Gerda's lap, "Gerda...what do I do?"
"Welcome to Veiluria, traveler!"
"At least you'll never leave me..." I sniffed as I hugged her belly.
Then the crackling of a mike suddenly came in from nowhere.
"S-Senpai? Senpai are you still here?"
"Mika?!" I sat up, "Is that you?!"
"Yep! I'm sorry, senpai. I wasn't really thinking when I shut down the game last night."
"I-It's fine." I sighed, "At least I know I can survive the game being offline."
"Mmhmm."
"Now we have to think about what to do next." I mused.
"Well there isn't really a specialist we can consult about this."
"Have you told anybody?"
"No! No, how could I?!"
"That makes sense..." I sighed.
"...You know...senpai...maybe you can live there? For the time being?"
"Live here?!" I cried, "You want me to just live in this virtual reality?!"
"I-It's not that bad! You have Gerda. I know, just think of it as an isekai!"
"This isn't a goddamn manga!"
"Uuu...I'm sorry..."
"Hah...hah...well..." I gulped as I calmed down again, "I suppose I don't really have a choice right now though. I'll just have to live here."
"T-That's the spirit, senpai!"
"But we're not giving up, okay?!"
"Y-Yes! Of course we're not!"
"..."
"...But that being said...what do we do?"
"..."
"...Maybe we should tell someone?"
"Ugh...But what good would that do?"
"Well if we get someone in the coding team in, we could prevent you from getting accidentally deleted."
"I'm part of the programming team."
"Yeah but can you code in there?"
"...Guess not?"
"Right. Then let's hire someone from the coding team! Do you have anybody in mind?"
"...Kenji...might be able to help."
"Akaki Kenji right? I'll go grab him!"
"Ah...wait."
"Yes senpai?"
"Are you sure you're okay with this? Wouldn't this mean you're going to implicate yourself in this incident to another party?"
"What are you talking about? If senpai needs help, then I can't just stand by and watch. Besides, if I get found out, it's my fault to begin with anyway so it's not like it matters right?"
"U-Uh..."
"I'll be back then! Don't go anywhere!"
"Like it'll matter where I go." I said, forlornly groping Gerda's breasts.
A few minutes later, the mike picked up a door opening and the sounds of Mika dragging someone into the room.
"It's fine! Just come here already!"
"Ms. Mashiro, I really should be getting back to work though."
"I said it's fine! Here! Sit down!"
"...Kenji? Is that you?" I called
"Hm? Sensei? Is that you sensei? Where are you?"
"Over here. In the game."
"Oh. There you are." Kenji said as his voice came closer to the mike, "What are you working on in the game?"
"Well I was doing some debugging..."
"Weren't there like three minigames you had to work on?"
"About that...you see..."
"I...I see." Kenji said, stunned by our explanation of what happened last night, "I...have never heard of this happening."
"I doubt anyone has." I sighed.
"So the current problem is, we need to make sure nobody deletes or changes senpai." Mika explained.
"Hm. Well that's simple enough. We can just encrypt him."
"E-Encrypt?"
"Wait, are we sure that won't do anything to me?" I frowned, "Physically or mentally?"
"Well it's either that or go with no protection. Here. I'll use my own personal encryption key to secure your data. It may not be the best but it'll at least tell everybody not to touch you."
"Thanks." I shuddered as I felt new code being written into my being.
"That's no problem, sensei. The problem now is what are you going to do?"
"I don't know if there's anything we can do." I sighed, "Is there a solution online for this?"
"I'm quite confident these are entirely new grounds. But I can run a quick search just to make sure."
"No no, that was just a joke." I sighed again.
"...Should I bring everyone in the office here?" Kenji asked, "You might not want to involve everybody but it's the best way to secure your safety at least."
"That's true." I nodded.
"There's one problem with that." Mika spoke up.
"What's that?" Kenji asked.
"Agari senpai."
I shuddered, "Oh. That's right."
Konsui Agari. She was one of the three creative leads for the Samsara of Dreams project. However, she wasn't concerned with adding anything to the game, only with removing. She was an incredibly strict person who rarely came around the office but if the slightest problem hindered the development of the game, she wouldn't hesitate to step in and resolve it herself. Because of her our project developed smoothly but at the same time, we had to run every major change or addition past her. The amount of ideas she allowed paled in comparison to the amount of hopes and dreams she crushed. Mikamina was one of the few people not afraid to talk to her. Thanks to her, our team remained focused on working on the game. Even I have to admit she was an important part of our team. She was appointed CEO of our little indie studio after our old one left and she runs a tight ship. Thankfully, she mainly works in business relations which usually takes her outside the office.
"That's true." Kenji mused, "We submitted our latest vertical slice to our backers two days ago and she has already come back with a list of features to change or remove. The office has been busy working on those since then."
"If she finds out I'm slacking off in this game, she'll delete me for sure!" I cried.
"No...I don't think she'll think of it that way." Mika laughed nervously, "I'm sure if you at least stay out of development's way she'll let you stick around."
"But if the office is too focused on trying to save sensei, she might just delete him instead."
"That's..." Mika tried to object but her voice trailed off.
"We can't tell anyone." I gulped, "I don't want to die again."
"A-Alright."
"That said, sensei. Can you code in there? If you don't do your part, Agari might notice and come looking."
"I could get fired!" I realized.
"No, I think the repercussions might be worse, as we have just discussed."
"That said, do you even need money right now?" Mika asked.
"Is there anything you can do?!" I cried.
"Hmm...I could probably connect your coding program to the game so you could work on it using the game's interface."
"That should help! Thanks!"
"No problem, sensei. I'll get on that when I return."
"You're so reliable, Kenji! At such a young age too!" I nodded proudly.
"By the way, sensei." Kenji said, "Are you in the Contractor class right now?"
"Oh yeah." I replied, "It was the last class we playtested so I guess I'm stuck with it."
"I was the one who came up with the Contractor class. How is it?"
"Wow really? Hmmm...I haven't really gotten to use any of it so I can't tell you. I don't really know how to use it either."
"Did you receive a blank card?"
"Yeah this one." I pulled the card that the Sword of Selection had turned into from my pocket.
"Go outside and find a monster."
"Huh? Alright." I got up and walked out of Gerda's house. Leaving the bounds of Veiluria, I found a group of slimes loitering about a road.
"Hold the front of the card out to one of the slimes." Kenji explained, "Choose carefully because you can only do this once."
"Umm..." I looked among the crowd of blue slimes, all of which looked the same to me. I picked one out of the pack and pointed the card at it. The slime turned around and stared at me as the card began to emit light. Once the light died down, the slime bounced over and nuzzled against my leg.
"Oh. Hey it's friendly now." I said as I knelt down to pat the slime.
"Look at the card."
I turned the card over and what used to be blank now showed a slime with some traits and attributes on it and a description.
"You've formed a contract with the slime now." Kenji explained, "A deck box should have appeared at your hip."
"Oh so it has." I stood up and opened the deck box which seemed to be full of cards already.
"Try pulling one out."
I took one of the cards out, letting the deck box slide shut. I looked at this new card in confusion.
"Pump?"
"Try focusing on the card."
I applied a little focus on the card and the card bubbled and evaporated. Immediately, my arm turned into water and blasted forward, splattering against a tree.
"Whoa!" I cried as my arm reformed itself.
"Contractor uses these contract cards to make contracts with monsters. In doing so, they become your skills and you can use unique attacks based on those monsters."
"That's pretty neat." I smiled.
"Some monsters can even give you certain weapons so you don't really need to worry about equipping a stronger weapon. I wanted to make a class with the ability to use any weapon and this is what I came up with."
"Why didn't you just make a class that could equip every weapon?" Mika asked.
"If I make a class that could just equip every weapon, demand for every kind of weapon would virtually double. What's more, if we leave the weapon selection to the player, they would have to focus on maintaining and upgrading multiple different weapons, which could be tedious and maybe even expensive. And if they just focus on one or two weapons, why don't they just choose another class? By providing these special weapons to the players all they need is to level them up in their skills with little need to deal with the economy."
"Sounds pretty powerful." I noted.
"If you want to improve your weapons all you can do is level up though. So it might take a while to catch up to other players."
"Let's not forget finding the proper monster to contract with." I nodded, "Kind of sad I used it on a slime."
"I can provide some extra contract cards for you, sensei. There isn't a lot you can do with the class right now but working on it is a personal project of mine."
"I look forward to seeing how this develops." I smiled.
"Thank you. I look forward to working with you in the future. Now I should probably get back to work before anyone gets suspicious."
I heard Kenji get up and leave before Mika sat back down and said, "Well that seemed to go over well."
"Yeah. Kenji's always been a reliable sort of person."
"I'm surprised at how easily he accepted all this."
"Hmhm. That's because he's one of us."
"'Us'?"
"An otaku!" I cried.
"..."
"Yep, he's seen plenty of anime and this situation is exactly like one of his isekais in real life! Now one of them has come to life and he's stoked to see this through to the end! I get it. I would be the same if it happened to someone else."
"...So by 'us' are you including me?"
"Are you an otaku?"
"Not really?"
"Bullshit. Everyone's an otaku of something. What do you like?"
"What do I like? I like..."
…
…
"...I'm listening."
"N-Nevermind! It's too embarrassing!" Mika cried as she ran out the room.
"Wh-hey! Where're you going?!"
Before I knew it, three months had passed since I became stuck in Samsara of Dreams. Mikamina made up a lie about how I had to work at home due to a family emergency so my disappearance at the office wouldn't be noticed. If anybody came over to my house to check on me, they probably would stumble across the truth but thankfully none of my coworkers were that close to me. Like Kenji had suggested, I was able to continue my work stealthily using a connection between the game and our coding program so for all intents and purposes, I was effectively still active in the real world at least business wise.
"Still, I really wish I could play my gatcha game." I grumbled, "I've got to have a ton of keystones by now."
"I've been doing your dailies for a while now but I still don't think I get absolutely everything." Mika nodded, "I think I'm ready to take on an event now though. To be honest, the last few kinda scared me."
"The free welfares..." I moaned.
"S-Sorry, senpai. I'm doing my best."
"I wonder if I can get Kenji to give me access to the game through our game."
"I'm afraid there would be copyright issues with that." Kenji replied, "More importantly, have you heard the good news, sensei?"
"I have." I nodded, "Gerda's going to get a big update soon! Soon she'll be able to say things other than 'Welcome to Veiluria, traveler!'"
"I'm sure that's important to you but that's not what I was talking about." Kenji sighed, "We managed to secure a major publisher, Tennindo."
"Tennindo?" I blinked, "But I don't remember them being that invested in publishing a mmo."
"I don't know how it happened either." Kenji replied, "You'd have to ask Agari about it."
"Regardless, the team is really getting pushed to add something big to really excite them." Mika said, "The entire team's kinda pressed for ideas but we're busy enough adding and adjusting the essential systems."
"Sensei, do you have any ideas?"
"Something big huh?" I mused, "...Catgirls?"
"Senpai, we want to make a game for everyone, not just degenerates."
"What I think sensei means is to add an entirely new race. While I'm sure that would be a big addition, I don't think it'll necessarily impress them."
"Hmm...how about a mascot then?" I suggested.
"Wait, that might actually work." Mika said, surprised, "This game could use a face for our franchise."
"Who should it be though?"
I made a grand gesture towards Gerda.
"Welcome to Veiluria, traveler!"
"Yeah, senpai, that's a no from me."
"Sensei, if we make Gerda the mascot, she won't be only your wife-your waifu anymore."
"I suppose that's true." I nodded, "Someone who belongs to everyone...how about an idol?"
"An idol?" Mika said, "Like one of those fancy ones that sing and dance on TV?"
"Hmm..." Kenji thought about it deeply, "It would certainly be a huge undertaking. I don't know if we have the resources for it."
"Designing one character is better than designing a new race." I said, "We just need the designer to make some proposals and have the modelers animate it. We can even have the music department come up with a debut single, that's gotta be something new for them to do."
"You think that will go over well with Agari?"
"The question is if it will go over well with the investors. I don't see why not. At the very least we can advertise it as a major regular in-game event even if it fails."
"Having people stand there and watch someone dance certainly seems easier than having some big quest line." Kenji admitted, "We could also make it a big reveal for our game to drum up interest."
"I don't know, would an idol fit the fantasy medieval setting we have?"
"Idols are a timeless concept!" I cried.
"We're making a long term mmo, Mikamina senpai. We can't make ourselves stick to the realism of the setting all the time. Everyone would get bored of it in time, including us. If anything, making this idol will be like making a statement. A statement that we aren't taking ourselves too seriously to not have fun and play with our tropes."
"Mmmm...all right. I'll bring it up at the next meeting." Mika sighed, "The design team have been relaxing a lot lately since we've just been adjusting what we have so this should give them something to work on."
"If I may, Mikamina senpai?"
"Yes?"
"Just making a model sing and dance doesn't make them an idol. They have to have a personality. The more human they seem the better."
"A personality hm?" Mika sounded genuinely interested this time, "Alright. I'll see what I can do."
The sound of Mika getting up and leaving got caught faintly by the mike as a door clicked shut.
"By the way, where are you guys when you usually talk to me?" I asked, "You can't really access the game outside the office so I assume you're still there."
"That's right, sensei. We co opted an unused board room to use as a sort of base for talking with you."
"No one asks where you go?"
"It's not like we're doing anything expressly illegal. We just like our privacy here."
"No one complains that you two get a special room to yourselves here?"
"Everyone knows we come here to chat with you, they just don't know about your circumstances. And since we were the only two people who really ever talked to you, it makes sense that we'd be the ones facilitating your little 'work at home' business."
"I see."
"You really don't have a lot of friends, sensei."
"Shut up."
A week later, Mika would come to me with the debut video of the idol character that they would add to Samara of Dreams, Yumeko Matomo and her debut single "Meeting You Again For The First Time". As I watched it, I was struck with a sense of awe. Everything was amateurish. From the song to the dancing to the singing. Everything was just a few steps below professional. There was a sense of embarrassment and uncertainty to the production, but also a genuine earnestness and, most important of all, potential for greater things even if it might not be something that could be viral or memetic. Despite all its shortcoming, I was drawn into the world of the song and before I knew it, it was over.
The first thing I felt was surprise. It almost seemed impossible that our small team was able to create something like this in the short time since it was first suggested and yet I was filled with an intense, almost patriotic sense of pride in our team for making it. It may not have been perfect but more important than how we did was the sense that in this production's completion, nothing seemed impossible for our team. Our dream of making a small mmo seemed...attainable.
"H-How was it?" Mika asked nervously.
I stifled a small sniff, "It's perfect. It's exactly what this game needed."
"Yeah. Everyone was really hyped to do this. I'm glad we decided to do this, even if Agari had some reservations about it. With any luck, the investors will love it as well."
"I'm sure-no, I know they will." I rubbed the tears from my eyes.
"Thanks, senpai."
"By the way." I gulped down my remaining moved emotions, "What was that thing on her shoulder?"
"It's a jellyfish." Mika explained, "I decided to add a cute animal mascot in case the whole idol thing didn't go over well."
"Why a jellyfish?!"
"Well I wanted to choose something that was cute but also nontraditional."
"Isn't a jellyfish kind of a dangerous choice for a female idol?!"
"What do you mean?"
"Nevermind." I sighed, "Has the office seen this video?"
"Yeah." Mika said sheepishly, "Everyone's seen it. We're planning on releasing it online soon as the investors give the green light. We did some research and Tennindo actually has experience with digital idols in games. Hopefully we can get them to give us some pointers."
"Man, I can't wait to see what Matomo will be like in a few years." I nodded, "I'm going to be her first fan!"
"Would you believe I actually originally designed her as a male?"
"Whoever stopped you did everyone a service. Male idols is a completely different kind of idol. I don't know if everything would have gone over as well as it has if Matomo was a man."
"Matomo is more than just her gender, you know. She started out as a marine biologist who often sang to the animals while taking care of them, earning her the nickname of Siren by her coworkers. It wasn't until a scouting agent came by and heard her sing that she decided to become an idol. She's 18 years old and her birthday is February 20th making her an Aquarius. Her blood type is AB and she's a very nervous person that becomes surprisingly confident on stage! Her jellyfish is named Ikko and she often wears him as a hat when she's scared or nervous. She's surprisingly good at karaage and enjoys eating oysters! She likes scuba diving and hates match 3 puzzle games!"
"That...got a bit weird at the end there." I blinked, "For one, does it really take a lot of talent to deep fry things?"
"She also likes to take her cold drinks without any ice."
"You can stop with the weird facts now." I sighed, "By the way, Matomo's voice is cute and all but it's also kinda familiar. Does she remind you of anyone?"
"..."
"Mika?"
"L-Let's not worry about that right now, senpai!" Mika yelped, "The point is, this is Matomo's big debut and we're working around the clock to make sure it goes well. The entire team's put down whatever they were doing before in order to make this a successful debut."
"I'm surprised Agari isn't throwing a fit."
"Well she was the one who approved it in the end so I guess she's in no position to complain."
"What does Kenji think of all this?"
"Hmm. I don't think I've shown him yet. I haven't seen him since yesterday actually. I wonder what he's doing."
"Knowing him, probably some otaku stuff."
"You know senpai, you've said Kenji is an otaku before but he really doesn't seem like the type."
"That's because you don't have the sense."
"The sense?"
"The sense otakus have for each other! We can sense another otaku when we see one!"
"Uh huh."
"You're a normie so I can't expect you to understand."
"What does being an otaku even mean?" Mika asked, "Do I need a wife as well?"
"Waifu or husbando, either is fine." I nodded, "More importantly it's your love for the two dimensional that matters."
"Um...I kinda like triangles I guess."
"We'll work on your training."