Amii Ling and Princess Pensée strolled along the filthy, slime-covered stone slabs, their footsteps squelching. With every stride, they basked in a sense of accomplishment, feeling invincible after defeating Jason, the towel-clad individuals, the plastic-bag-wearing foes, and Ferret-o. They had also disposed of various forms of trash in the appropriate bins. Their viewer count had soared to an impressive 60k, surpassing the threshold for needing to do any charity work and filling them with a surge of pride.
A cash register-sounding ringtone went off. "Wait, I'm getting a call!" Amii exclaimed. "I've got to answer it and let the ones who raised me shower me with compliments like, 'Wow, look at our amazing child excelling at this silly game!' With all the polish and glitter of nails adorned in gold and royal blue," Amii said with a grin.
"Amii, please wait a moment... don't do anything yet!" Princess interrupted, grappling with the intricacies of VR technology.
But alas, it was too late. She realised Amii had unhooked her VR headset to answer the phone.
On the other end of the line, Amii's guardians said, "Hi, Princess... We just wanted to wish you good luck in the game."
"This is not Princess; this is your daughter," Amii gently corrected, pausing briefly before continuing, "Your daughter, you know, Amii."
"Ah, my sweet Amii!" The voices of her guardians blended together in harmony, a symphony of love and recognition. "Our precious daughter!" Their words resonated with warmth and nostalgia, tinged with the passage of time. "Sorry, we didn't recognise your voice." Their tones softened with parental reassurance as they continued, "We hope you do wonderfully in the game, sweetie. We're sure you'll gain lots of followers and likes, and beat everybody! We believe in you, just like we always have, through every challenge and triumph."
"Yeah, I was absolutely killing it! Unstoppable! We'd taken down countless players, levelled up like crazy, and unlocked all these amazing new abilities. And hey, our viewers love us! We've got, like, 60k tuning in right now... we're a force to be reckoned with, a dynamic duo, Princess and I. Together, we'll crush anyone who dares to stand in our way!"
"Oh, sweetheart, is the game happening now? I thought it was tomorrow."
"No, it's happening this very moment. I'm answering the call while..." Amii's words trailed off as her entire VR system abruptly shut down, leaving her stranded in a void of darkness, her heart sinking like a stone.
"AARGH!!!" Amii screamed, a thunderous eruption of anger and frustration.
When Amii disconnected her headset to answer a call, her status might have falsely shown 'AFK'—a blatant lie propagated by the game. Amii didn't even own a keyboard to be away from. Furthermore, it was stated that she was idle, which wasn't true either, so let's toss that junk out the window and hopefully hit Jason's window-cleaner.
Ultimately, Pensée blamed the shoddy game design. "Nope, never idle, but absolutely a bona fide idol. Get the word right! Okay?" Pensée kept repeating out loud, "Trash game! Trash game! Trash game!"
As Amii's digital avatar pixelated away from the game, Princess Pensée witnessed their inseparable bond fracturing in an instant, leaving a void as if unity had been shattered. The departure felt like Princess was losing 20% of her cognitive functions. "Amii, you silly, silly girl!" she said to herself. "Girl," she reflected, now I'm using the word she employs as a term of endearment.
With a huff, Princess realised she was now the main act, the spotlight solely on her. "Well, if I'm the sole protagonist now," she declared with a flick of her perfectly styled digital hair (Basic Anime Hair #7 from the hair menu in the colour pink), "then I'll own it! And pro tag THIS world!"
(•ω•)