Season Re: Pregame

[The City [EclipseZwolf]]

-A man leaning up against one wall fiddling with what appeared to be a metal puzzle with interlocking rings that are supposed to be somehow separate seems to suddenly succeed an expression of 'Ah! I got it' on his face before looking over the others-

"A pleasure to meet  you Darren. I can certainly understand being asked to manage something you aren't normally prepared for. Sadly my day job has me thrown into those scenarios....more often than I prefer."

-He walks over and procures a Lanyard from Darren-

"I hope to find some nice relaxation in addition to the payment for this beta. Nothing like some escapism to calm down from stress. I look forward to playing with the rest of you."

"Ah, and all of you can call me Bian. No need for Mr or Sir or anything, just Bian is fine."

-Bian tips his head down slightly towards the others in the room before fishing another puzzle out of his pocket and beginning to fiddle with it-

[Daiwa Scarlet]

*Izuna suddenly notices Bian... or his puzzle anyway*

"That is an interesting puzzle desu. Izuna would like to try too desu."

[Satori]

"So we'll be playing some virtual reality game? I've actually played quite few games like this before and they can be pretty fun. Anyway. I am Kuroyukihime and yes it's I know it sounds weird but you can just call me Kuro. Looking forward to testing the game with you all."

She then goes over to Izuna and happily pats her head.



"Well aren't you a cute little fellow~"

[John Dark Souls]

"Nice to meet ya Princess(hime)~ Might be easier to just wait and see for ourselves, but since you say are experienced in these 'video games', mind if I ask you to teach us oblivious hicks more about them?"

[King V]

"Oh good, do we have a 'video game' expert here with us now? That's great! I'll be depending on you to help us with this event then."

-Ingram randomly turns to Bian and starts enthusiastically shaking hands-

[Daiwa Scarlet]

"W-who said you could pet me desu."

[Exusiai]

- At this point, Darren is hugging the clump of folders to his chest.  His shoulders sag down even further from Lechter's splash of reality -

"..."

- Despite Izuna being shorter than him, Darren nods his head in a quick gesture of gratitude, but his nod is exaggerated to the point that it can classify as a bow -

"E-Even with such a diverse cast of beta testers, I'm sure that Project Restart w-would continue to support this experiment.
I'll explain the use of these lanyards now, although you won't need them until after the first session.
T-These are lanyards made specifically for this trial period.  We'll call them visitor's lanyards.
With one of these, y-you can use the elevator and access the β-Test Room at anytime.
Visitor's lanyards also work as lunch cards.  There is a cafeteria on the first floor, and you can get up to t-two meals a day if you use your lanyard there.
During the beta period, a-any charges that you would usually pay for going to the cafeteria will be c-considered void."

[John Dark Souls]

- Not looking slightest bit disappointed -
"Did you just hear him girly? He said you could get free lunch with those lanyards and since you have mine, you could get double the meals!"

[Daiwa Scarlet]

"Fooood... desu."

*Izuna charges for the door*

[Exusiai]

- As Izuna rushes for the doorknob, it flings open within inches of her face -



"Fu fu~ The game hasn't started yet, but you're already so eager to leave?
Mires(-kun) must have left a really bad impression on you all.  That won't do!
As the Assistance Quality Assurance Manager, I, Roxane Ferron, shall fix everything!
Fu fu~ It's in my job description after all."

- A head bobs from behind the theatrical woman.  The newcomer appears meek in stature.  Rather than anxious, he has an exasperated expression towards Roxane -



"I should introduce myself also.  Aston Graham, animator for Project Restart.
Roxane acts like that, but in the end, she's another random NPC."

[John Dark Souls]

- Looks at the two who just entered -
"Woah, I noticed it when we entered the room, but isn't it a bit too dangerous to have doors opening inside? You almost hit the girly who was just getting hungry and going to grab some foods. Ya know, can't fight on an empty stomach and all that~"

"Otherwise, I'm Lechter, nice to meet ya two. And it wasn't bad impression at all, we quickly got along with Darren here, right buddy? *winks to Darren*"

[Daiwa Scarlet]

*Izuna jumps back and hisses at the new arrivals*

"You guys dont have any refreshments or other ways to pass time desu."

[King V]

-Ingram continues going around shaking hands with everyone-

[Exusiai]

- Darren flusteredly receives one of Ingram's handshake, although his concentration is split towards the two other staff members at the doorway and Lechter winking to the side
The tester allows a few seconds to pass before realizing Lechter's bluff, but he can only nod in agreement -



- Roxane's eyes glint briefly, before breaking out into a chuckle again -

"Fu~ I'll play along with this then.
The fact that 'the girly' almost got hit by the door for 'going to grab some foods' means that she wasn't thoroughly told to not leave the room.
A certain someone must not be doing his job correctly then."

- She shoots a menacing smile at Darren, who has already begun to fiddle with the clump of papers and folders in his possession as to avoid direct eye contact -

"More importantly, myself and Graham(-kun) have come to tell you all the good news.  Right, Graham(-kun)?"



- Aston's face twists as if in physical pain from being in the same vicinity as the theatrical woman -

"The set-up for the game is nearly complete.  In about ten minutes , we'll be asking you guys to choose a seat.
Darren will talk everyone through putting on the necessary game accessory."

- Aston fishes from the pocket of his hoodie and produces a pack of dry noodles, even though said noodles appear to be bigger than the pocket they came from.
He holds it out like a dog treat towards Izuna -

"I don't have any health-regeneration items on me today, but this should be enough... probably.
It's true that we didn't prepare any activities to pass time, but at the same time, we didn't expect a-"

- The orange hooded animator frowns as he looks at Izuna, although it seems like he's examining something in front of her instead -

"- Nine-thousand and one year old with a short attention span either.
Wait, that doesn't make sense." 

[Daiwa Scarlet]

*The pack of noodles disappear in a flash and is next spotted spinning across the room on one of the chairs... with Izuna...
A cloud of flavoring dust explodes around her as she tears open the packet and spreads it over the noodles*



*She watches the hooded boy talk and after a moment but her eyes open in surprise*





























"Is that a status screen desu?"