Slurp! Slurp!
A young man sat in front of a brand new capsule in the corner that seemingly was more luxurious than any furniture or even the bed in the room while eating an instant noodle cup.
He hadn't realized it before as he didn't look around, but the latest VR capsule had been installed in place of his old capsule. The latter was also gone and couldn't be found anywhere.
Slurrp–
But that wasn't a problem. He couldn't use two capsules at the same time, anyway.
And if he had to choose between the old and the new one...
"Gulp!"
He would choose the latest generation one.
"Huff... That was delicious. Thankfully, I found it before the expiration date. If I forgot about it, then it would just be trash in this room waiting to be found."
Max stood from his bed and threw the empty cup into the trash can.
It was already 5 PM, an hour before his livestream. He wanted to lay around the bed and rest more, but he had a promise.
'Nina wanted to talk about something in her Lobby. What is it, I wonder?'
This afternoon, his long-time friend suddenly messaged him that she wanted to talk with him. He asked whether he should go to the restaurant or not, but she said to meet her later in her Lobby. She would invite him.
Entering his new VR capsule, which was the same model he used in the test yesterday, he fitted his body perfectly and entered the VR world.
A vast grassy plain greeted him with nothing but a single tree and a set of a table and a chair. Max sat down and opened the Knight's Journey forum, which was filled with recent news while waiting for Nina's invitation.
[Breeze has gone worldwide!]
[The truth behind Flexy and Breeze's collaboration!]
[Veteran and Newbie, Versus! StoneSword's pair versus Breeze and Flexy's fair. Exciting battle!]
The threads were filled with the program announced by Biozone Entertainment. But it wasn't only that.
[The new Synchronization Test world record. Breeze or LilyPixel?]
'What happened?' He asked in his mind. 'She's not the type to call me to her private Lobby out of nowhere. From what I remember, she would only do this if there was a big problem plaguing her mind.'
"That's right, hehe." Nina giggled and scratched the back of her head. She suddenly stopped and gasped, "Ah, are you sure you can talk with me right now? Aren't you busy with your new job? I don't bother you, right? Didn't you always stream at 6 PM?"
"Huh?" Max raised his voice slightly. "How did you know? I didn't tell you about that yet..."
It wasn't like he didn't want to tell her, but he didn't want to make Nina worried. Being a streamer wasn't stable, and before, he wasn't even sure he could make money from it.
But after what happened two days ago, with Flexy transferring 15 thousand dollars to him, he planned to tell her about his new 'job' soon. To think she would find out about it before he could have a chance to was surprising.
"I read about a new streamer event in the morning news. Hehe, you're famous now."
"Not that famous if compared to Flexy and StoneSword." He chuckled dryly, "Anyway, what do you want to talk about? I will listen to it as long as you need me to."
While streaming was important, Nina's matter came first. He was truly indebted to the girl for not outright ignoring him. And he wasn't an asshole who forgot about the favor he received.
In his memory, Nina had never called him before.
"I called you to congratulate you." Nina exclaimed with a bright smile, "We need to celebrate it, don't you think so? Congratulations, Max!"
She was lying.
For some reason, Max was able to tell that much.
His expression fell down, "I am happy that you congratulate me, Nina. However, please be honest with me. I can at least lend my ears to listen to your problem."
After saying that, he looked at Nina's reaction. Her smile fell and turned sad.
"I can't hide anything from you, huh?" She muttered in a sad voice as she walked to the chair next to Max.
Sitting down, Nina poured water into a glass cup and drank it slowly.
"Will you hear what I want to say? Please... I don't know who I could consult with."
"Sure." Max looked at her and nodded, "That's what I am here for, right?"
Hearing that, Nina smiled again, tears trailing down her cheeks, "Thank you, Max."
Then, she began to tell him about her worry.