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━━━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━━━ Hotaru P.O.V
What is going on? I moved a little closer, so it is easier to hear the conversation but still in hiding.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I officially supervise the 13th Avenue of the ones within Genome", the alpaca man stated. He supervises this. So this stupid looking guy is the reason why I am here. "I am known by the name 'Paca'", he says. So that thing does have a name, who knew.
"Stage one was animal battle. Although, the traditional method of clearing the level and moving on was to defeat the gigantic creatures pursuing you", the 'Paca' guy said. To defeat it huh? I sweat-dropped.
"Mr. Iride, escape game let's player, surprised us", Paca said. So that kid, who is so called 'Iride', is a gamer. "I never seen anyone befriend the panda. It's intriguing to say the least", he stated. Well you got that right.
All of sudden, balloons came out behind Paca's arms. "Untested methods and new styles to play, have proven to drawn in and fascinate the hearts of our audience. Resulting a large surge of total views. I'm expecting great things from you", he said amazed. I raised my eyebrow, confused as what he meant, and I wasn't the only one who was confused as well.
I flinched when suddenly a pink balloon popped. "Now then everyone, please take a moment to look on your left wrist", the alpaca exclaimed. I rolled down my sleeve to see writing on my wrist. It read 'n0 0 013 000001867'. Then the '7' changed to a '8'. I licked my finger and started rubbing it against my wrist, trying to wipe it off. The hell? It won't come off. "Ew what is this", asked pinky. "It won't rub off", Iride claimed. "Those are epidermal counter implants. We embedded all of you with nano chips while you were still unconscious", Paca announced. My eyes widened, they did what?! "They are directly linked with the main server in the tower, so the view count you are seeing is displayed in real time", Paca continued. View count does mean like people are watching us?
"Wait, view count? What do you mean?", Iride asked. "Come now, let's not pretend you're unfamiliar with the term", Paca said. So it is like people watching us. "That goes for you two as well", I raised my eyebrow, "Sengoku let's player, Mr. Onigasaki and horror let's player, and, Sarayashiki", continued Paca. They are streamers too, I'm guessing they got that weird email as well.
"Hey I never told any of you my name. Who the hell are you. Take off that mask and show your face", the guy named 'Onigasaki' commanded. I am curious what Paca actually looks like under that ridiculous mask. "Oh no, no thank you! It's far too embarrassing", Paca said while yanking his mask. "I swear you 13th Avenue people are always so impatient. Why don't I go straight to the point", he continued, "Your only required to accomplish a single goal while you're here. May that counter on your wrist tick all the way up to one hundred million. To be perfectly clear, it's imperative that you reach one hundred million views during this live stream of the 'ones within- genome'. Furthermore, you have an infinite amount of time to reach this goal. I urge each one of you to play as if your very life depend on it", Paca said.
My eyes widened, my head couldn't really wrap around the idea of being stuck here. Father...I need to get home. You see my father is very ill at the moment and my mother can't take care of him by herself. I clenched my teeth, but I stayed calm. Slowly taking deep breaths.
"Did you get that, Ms. Tachibana", Paca asked. The teens looked slightly confused, well Onigasaki didn't really seem confused. I sighed and jumped off the tree seeing it's pointless to hide there anymore. "Loud and clear", I mumbled. Sarayashiki was shocked, "since when was she here", she exclaimed. "She think she was here the whole time actually, I did feel another person was here", Onigasaki said. I slightly smirked, and here I thought I was being stealthy. "Well then, let's get going. We have to meet the rest", Paca said. The rest?
━━━━━━━ ◦ Time skip ◦ ━━━━━━━
We were no sitting in a class room. I sat next to Onigasaki and behind a guy with a mask. Everyone was quiet, not knowing what to say or do. I'm not complaining, I rather it stay like this. But, it can't.
"Now that we are all comfy, you might want to go ahead and introduce yourself to your fellow colleagues", Paca announce. Oh hell no. I always had trouble talking to people I don't really know, which is almost everyone. Heck, I even stuttered saying "here", when my substitute in school asked if I was here. "Starting at the first desk by the window, say your name and game specialty in a nice lively voice", Paca said. I'm doomed.
"Ok! I'm Akatsuki Iride. I specializes in escape games and I like nature, vacations, and find animal paws adorable", Iride exclaimed but was irrupted by Sarayashiki hitting the back of his head. "You're too happy!", she yelled. Jeez remember me not get on her bad side.
"But the teacher told us to be lively", Iride stared. He considers that thing our teacher? "Yeah, he is also the guy who abducted us! Did you forget that we are all in mortal danger here", Sarayashiki exclaimed. I nodded my head, agreeing with her.
"Alright next seat please", Paca sighed. "I'm Himiko Inaba, I like farming and nurturing games", the petite girl said. Huh, she's pretty cute. "I'm trying not to geek out but I'm actually a very loyal follower of your entrancing, soft-spoken streams and videos. As a fan, it's a true honor and delight to here your voice in person", Paca said. And he was kind of close to her face. I would be creeped out if any of my fans looked like that. Jeez give her some space. I sweat-dropped. "Do you think it's possibly whisper, breathily in my ear", ok now that is what I call a psycho, "maybe something like 'I love Mr. Paca', you know nothing weird", he asked. Creepy pervert.
Paca was interrupted when a pipe was thrown at him. I sighed in relief for the poor, uncomfortable girl. " I'm sorry but it's not your turn yet, Mr. Kudō", Paca stated. I looked at guy. I noticed he had eye bags and a helmet that was hanged around his neck.
He's pretty cute. I then noticed that everyone was pretty good looking. I slapped my face, this is not the time to admire people's faces. I could feel Onigasaki's stare, he might be wondering why did I do that. "Are you okay?", he asked. I blushed in embarrassment while looking away. "Yup, totally. Just peachy", I said.
