Back on floor 78, Art and Ramiel continued working on 'Last Resort''s development. Instant noodles continued to pile up on both of their desks as well as coffee.
"I should have worn casual clothing!" Art said while typing since he was wearing a white suit, it felt uncomfortable to wear.
"I mean it's your fault, the company did not give us any dress code~" Ramiel said as she yawns from tiredness.
"For you, I am one of the representatives of the company so naturally I need to look good!"
It was 8:42 PM, in a cold room filled with computers and servers in a skyscraper. Naturally one would feel tired from typing for a few hours.
Ramiel started stomping and throwing a fit as she spins on her office chair.
"I wanna go home! I'm tired..."
"We have to do this, we need to complete the final touches."
"Art... finish my remaining code~"
"No."
"Awww..."
Ramiel pokes Art's nose and pinches his cheeks.
"Do you have anything sweeeet?"
"Yeah, I still have one bar of chocolate."
Ramiel leaned on Art's shoulders as she was looking at her.
"Pleeeeeease?"
Art was tired and did not have the energy to argue, so Art just took the last remaining chocolate bar and gave it to Ramiel.
"There, now let's finish the final touches"
"Thanks, Art!"
As Art had gone back to typing on his keyboard, Ramiel shoved a chocolate bar in front of him.
"What are you doing, Ramiel?"
"We can share y'know."
"You can just eat it on your own, you seem tired."
"Alrighty~"
Ramiel went back to her chair and opened the chocolate bar's wrapper.
"Hey, Art!"
Art looked behind him since Ramiel called him.
"Wha-"
Ramiel had thrown half of the chocolate bar at Art, Art managed to grab it before it fell on the floor.
"If you were gonna give me half of it, you could have just given it normally."
Ramiel smiled cheerfully and stuck her tongue out.
"It's not fun if I do it normally~"
"True."
"Alright I'm going back to working~"
Ramiel wore her headphones back on and continued listening to music while typing.
Art yawns and continued typing
....
5 hours passed and both Ramiel and Art finished their code, Ramiel stretches her arms and yawned.
"Ahhhh~ I'm finiiisssheeedd~"
"Congratulations."
"Youu tooo~"
"We can go home now."
Ramiel lies on the ground since it is cold, Ramiel felt like sleeping because she is very tired.
Art sighs in relief, both of them want to go home and rest for the entire day.
"Thankfully we don't have to go to work tomorrow, since our task has been completed."
"Yeaah."
Ramiel and Art started packing their belongings and head outside the building, they make it in front of the gate. The road was dark and eerily quiet, but both of them got used to this since they were doing the job for 4 years now.
"Ramiel, wanna buy something before we leave?"
Ramiel smiled mischievously at Art.
"Ehhhh~ Are you making your move on me?"
"Of course not, aren't you tired."
Ramiel pouted and looked down, pretending to be sad as if getting rejected from a love confession.
j
"Nonetheless I'm feeling hungry, what do you want Art?"
"Ice cream, or something similar."
"'Kay"
Art and Ramiel arrived at a nearby convenience store and bought snacks and desserts.
"Ramiel, what are you doing?"
Ramiel was In front of the reach-in refrigerators, hoarding 14 bottles of milk tea.
"Just buying stuff."
"You're not supposed to buy that much.."
"Waah~"
Art bought an Onigiri and a bottle of cold coffee, both of them head to the cashier area and left the store while holding plastic bags.
"Ramiel."
"Yeah?"
Art throws an onigiri at Ramiel's face, she didn't manage to react to it on time and hit her face.
"Payback."
"Awwww that's unfair!"
Art shrugs his hands and gave Ramiel a big smile.
"Anyways eat it, I bought it for ya."
Ramiel took a bottle of milk tea from her plastic bag and handed it out to Art.
"Take it, now we are fair."
Art gave Ramiel a pat on the head.
"Silly Ramiel, it's a gift, not a trade."
Ramiel turns away from Art.
"I don't like being in debt y'know."
"Says the one who ate an entire large pizza."
"That was my reward 'kay?"
"Alright, if you say so."
Ramiel gives farewell to Art, and so did Art. Both of them left in their own ways while eating and drinking.
"I should hurry to get home.."
Art started running to get home as soon as possible, he notices a taxi come closer to him so he stopped running. Art got in the taxi and told the driver where to go, after 30 minutes he was dropped off at his house.
Art was at the door and opened it with a key, a dark room greets him as he went to a light switch.
"I'm home."
No one answered him.
"I forgot I live alone."
Art unpacks his things and cleaned his clothing, took a cold shower, and went straight to bed.
Art turns on his phone and browsed the internet while trying to fall asleep, nothing he saw gave him any interest.
"Average day, average night."
Art turns and drops his phone on his head, as he stared at the night sky which was filled with light. His eyes started closing, he could feel his strength going away and feeling light.
...
The sound of Art's phone started ringing.
"..what?"
Art took his phone and see what was happening.
"..again?"
Art forgot to turn off his alarm clock, it's now 6:00 AM and the sun is rising, the birds chirping, and the sound of car engines going off.
"Ugghhh... I just want to sleep."
Art decided to wake up since he could not sleep anymore, he continued his daily routine and decided to play games for the day.
"That was fun!"
Art was playing a game for 4 hours, and he is starting to get bored so he decided to watch some videos on the internet. While watching he noticed a topic about the game 'Last Resort' being released in beta soon, they were speculating what the game will actually be like.
"It's fun seeing these guys use their imagination."
The video talked about how the game might work, with the footage of the 'leaks' being used as a catalyst for the game's quality.
While watching, his phone started ringing.
"Another alarm clock notification?"
Art went ahead to pick up the phone, it was not an alarm it was the Chairman calling him.
"Ah, shit."
Art accepted the call.
"Art, you really made us busy today. There are a lot of people trying to request an interview on the game's state, can you help me?"
Art scratches his head.
"No. I already gave a chance to make the game have some publicity no?"
"Yeah, but there's too much pressure on the teams right now."
"Why me, ask Ramiel or something."
"I tried, she said she was just gonna sleep for the day."
"..."
"A-anyways you will be the representative, do their interview for these guys."
"I thought it's my day off-"
"Now it is not, so get your ass here and accept their interviews!"
Art's face became blank.
"You little s-"
The chairman hung up on Art before he could finish his sentence.
"I'm gonna get a migraine.."
Art hurriedly prepared himself and went straight to the company.
.....
Art went to the Chairman's office.
"I'm here, you bastard."
"Nice! You're here, now go out there and talk to them!"
"You're making me die faster."
"At least no suffering right?"
Art groans in disappointment.
Art goes to the elevator and presses Floor 20, the moment the door opens he was greeted with flashing lights and cameras, and reporters trying to ask him questions about the game.
Art walks on the stage and greets everyone.
"Hello everyone, I will do the interviews regarding the state of the game so please ask one at a time."
The reporters' question was drowned out by the sound of people also trying to ask Art.
"Everyone please be quiet, I will pick a person randomly."
The crowd became quiet and patiently waited for Art to pick someone.
Art picks a random reporter and points at them.
"Hey you, what is your affiliation?"
The reporter stood up and answered confidently.
"I am a reporter for the Global Entertainment News."
Art gave her a thumbs-up approval.
"Alright, you may ask anything regarding about the game."
"Is it true that the game was a limitless experience?"
"It's true, we had spent 4 years in total just to design the combat of the game. There are a lot of functions that pretty much allow the players to use their imagination however they liked."
"Then is the gam-"
Art stopped the reporter from asking anymore, he showed her a stop hand.
"That is enough, thank you for asking your questions."
Art looks around the room again trying to see who to pick. Art got tired and simply pointed at a random person, the person saw it and immediately stood up.
"You, next."
"A-yes, thank you for picking me. Regarding the rumors, is it true that the company is also planning on making it VR?"
Art looks behind, and stares at the chairman. The chairman gave an okay gesture, and Art faced the reporter again.
"Yes, it will be also VR. We will be using a new technology that can truly make a person immerse in the game, it will be finished in about 5 days."
The crowd started talking to each other about the so-called new technology Art was talking about, it seems they were not aware of it being true.
"You, there."
Art continued picking people randomly from the crowd of reporters, 2 hours go by and the crowd was still constantly wanting to be picked by Art.
Art clapped his hands and announced that the interview is finished.
"Thank you all for coming here, but unfortunately the interview is finished. We will be accepting interviews in 4 days, we wish you enjoyed it."
Art turned back and head to the backstage, the crowd was still asking to question Art. Though they were dismissed, simply because it already has been 2 hours most of the reporters left.
The chairman waved at Art, congratulating him for managing to survive the interviews.
"Okay, okay that's cool and all. But can I leave now? You called me here abruptly."
The chairman laughed at him to the point he was tearing up.
"You're gonna be veeerrryyy busy today!"
Art stares at the chairman in annoyance.
"I want to retire, ugh..."