Click… Clack, clack… Click…
The monotonous clicking of the mouse and tapping of the keys of the keyboard broke the unnatural silence of the dimly lit but spacious room.
A figure suited in a hoodie sat in front of a large holographic screen and typed away on the keyboard that floated in front of them.
There were multiple holographic screens surrounding the main screen, and each of them showed a different content.
To their right was a large engine, similar to an arcade game box and right beside it was a circular platform of 1.5 meter circumference.
Opposite the machinery was a slightly open door which emitted light from within. And to their left was a worktable, and a bookshelf.
The worktable was extremely simple and still has uncompleted manuscripts and sheets of paper scattered all over it. While the bookshelf barely had any space left for any more books.
The only thing that seemed out of place in this bizarrely decorated room was, a calendar.
It was unnecessarily large and had all sorts of markings on it.
Days that had passed and days to come. The calendar was located right behind the worktable, maybe to serve as a reminder for it's owner or for easy access, no one knew but the owner who was currently slumped right in front of a short table, a little distance away from the holographic screen.
They stared at the screen in front of them with tired eyes, their gaze fixed on a certain spot, a comment.
"It's another one", they said dully then chuckled.
"I don't get it…"
They muttered softly, and scrolled down through the comments, scanning each comment under a certain criteria.
"So much hate, just for one character. Haa…"
They smiled in resignation, put aside the holographic keyboard in front of them, and picked up a physical keyboard from the ground beside them.
Within seconds it was connected to a screen that gradually enlarged itself till it reached a moderate size.
Moving their disinterested gaze across the screen as they typed on the keyboard, they made a comment at the results that popped up in front of them.
"Hmm… at least the story is doing well. It's already ranked 17th in worldwidenovels rankings, and 4th in popular novel rankings. It isn't bad but it's not as good as the last two."
"Considering all the trouble this story's giving me, I expected better results. Yawn…"
They tilted their head a little and the hood of the hoodie dropped revealing a head full of green hair, poorly bundled up into a bun.
Disregarding their fallen hoodie, they took the mouse and scrolled through the search results. All the while wondering what the next step would be.
'Since I've fulfilled the required conditions, there's no doubt I'll be given my title as creator again… But still I should have received the stone ahead of time… Haa I guess there's no point to having it earlier if I don't have a player ready…'
"A player… 'what kind of story I want determines the player I search for.' Pfft, well that's easier said than done. The person who made that quote must have never searched for a player by themselves."
They slumped on the table in front of them and moved their gaze from the screen in front of them, to an obscure laptop a few meters away from them.
Reaching out, they picked it up and turned it on.
"Maybe I should give up on anonymity and join a company. Then I probably wouldn't have to go to school too."
They joked to themselves, and waited patiently for the laptop to turn on.
Soon it was unlocked and an app was already loading.
Comeon…
"I'll probably find a suitable one here amongst all my fans but still, what story am I going to do… The one that'd suit this setting the most is 'Grass to grace', hence I need a resilient, steadfast and righteous player."
Their fingers paused as they read the group chat in front of them.
It was very active and most members were online discussing the most recent fanfic.
"If I do find that kind of player, would they listen to me?"
They said self mockingly.
"If only I had more resources, then I'd draft an official contract. Consequences of being an anonymous loner I guess…"
Bringing themselves out of their wishful thinking, they scrolled through the chats, clicked on profiles and read bios.
Assessing each member through their profiles and online personalities, chatting them up to determine their actual character and personality, then reaching out through an unofficial contract to-
'Hm? Avalqueen, that ID seems familiar'
They tapped their profile and read through their posts. As they did a small smile formed on their face.
'It seems this person likes Valeria, how sweet.'
A sudden realization struck them, and they were suddenly inspired.
'Since the readers who like Valeria are extremely low, I'll only choose from them after all they must have good tastes.'
Scrolling up, they scanned the member list once more;
Group Admin: Author J, Queenvalforever, Mbluey, Hasteria.
Moderators: Queenvalforever, Hanhsen, 0kaph0…
Pause.
"These are the early readers, hm? QueenVal is also a moderator? That's surprising, but it's a pity I can't pick her."
J, an author was at first stunned then happy at QueenVal's interest in their book. To them, it was fascinating for someone to like something so much they'd want so many people to see it, and would even go to the extent of advertising it on multiple platforms.
It was an excitement they had never seen before, and had only read or watched, so they were happy with QueenVal's enthusiasm.
Until she revealed how obsessed she was with the story.
Such obsession was New to J, so they considered it scary and quietly excluded QueenVal from the trainees list.
Although QueenVal had contributed a lot to the group and the novel and made J feel grateful, it was extremely surprising how much love she had for the character, Valeria.
Furthermore, that was also J's favorite character.
A pity though, J was unprepared to cast such a person into their story.
"But maybe I should talk to them first. Hmm… I'll test her and see if she's player material-!"
Just as J made that decision, the door directly behind them burst open and a deep, lively voice called out.
"Master, it's time for school!"
J froze in shock and hurriedly turned around.
"Already?!"
And by the door was 160 cm sized figure, with a tray and an alarm clock on it.
"Yes, it's exactly 11 minutes after 8, the time for you to get ready to go to school. And it also includes the extra minutes you usually demand when I wake you up everyday"
J looked at their attendant with an incredulous expression on their face, but still turned to the computer to check the time.
Alas, it was he had said, it was 8:11 AM.
"How unfortunate, I didn't get a wink of sleep since I received the notice last night…!"
J groaned tiredly and dragged their lethargic body up.
'Do I have to go to school today? No, I don't. Well normally I'm not supposed to, but I can't even avoid it now. Should I just take online classes since they start by ten? Online classes… how are they conducted again? Huh?'
A blanket of warm sunlight fell upon J as they stood, dazed, lost in their thoughts.
"Young master?", The attendant called out.
"Yes… yes, what what is it?", J answered at the attendant's call, and snapped out of it.
"Would you like to sleep in today and take an instance to school today?", The attendant asked softly.
"No no, I'll just go take a bath and get breakfast on the way there.", J shook their head resolutely, seemingly determined to go to school today.
"They'll only deduct a few points from your credit score. And it wouldn't matter much since you walk to school everyday, so how about you take my suggestion for today?", The attendant spoke gently.
"Yeah yeah, why not? Sleep in and sleep off, then you don't wake me up and my perfect attendance gets destroyed. No biggie right?"
J asked grudgingly, their words dripping with sarcasm but the attendant remained silent.
"Just go prepare my bath, while I brush my teeth then make breakfast, don't worry I won't be late today."
They said a little softer than before and undid the messy bun they tied up earlier.
"But are you going to take the instance?", The attendant suddenly spoke up.
J paused, their gaze fixed on the open curtains, and the surreal sight unravelling in front of them.
'An instance. It has been a while since I went on one. When was the last time though? But that doesn't matter'
Realizing they were spacing out, they quickly turned away from the curtains and to their attendant.
"No, walking to school is more effective. That way, I'll soak up more sunlight, right?"
J said sharply, hinting at something to the attendant.
"Right, it seems that way is more effective. I'll go prepare your bath now, and your breakfast has already been prepared by Ryo."
"Hm, I'll go downstairs in a bit."
And their attendant stood at the door for a bit before turning around to turn all the computers off, and disable the holograms. Once done, he left.
"Hm paranoid", J casually commented, and walked towards the room opposite the machinery.
They opened the door and went in, but came out almost immediately and walked towards the calendar.
Scanning the remaining days left to a specific date outlined with a purple marker, they sigh.
"The promotion is in a few weeks and I haven't received the soul stone yet nor found my player. No wonder authors were given the grace to skip out on the adventure of attending school."
J stared unwillingly at the calendar, then moves their gaze to the laptop beside the keyboard.
"Haa…"
They let out one more heavy sigh and eventually walk towards the room whose door they left open.