Ringing
The door of the Black Rose Café opened with the ringing of the bell at the entrance.
The Black Rose Café wasn't crowded with customers at 8 p.m. on a Friday evening. Kim Jihoon, a young man with messy hair and black eyes, walked into the café toward a table surrounded by five people around his age.
"Right on time."
A brown-haired, blue-eyed young man among the group shook hands with Kim Jihoon. He was a handsome man with a calm demeanor and a stylish, somewhat expensive appearance.
"Glad to finally see you, André."
Kim Jihoon turned his head toward the rest of his friends at the table.
He felt a strange warmth in his chest. A young woman in her twenties smiled when she saw Kim Jihoon. She was beautiful, with long black hair and captivating green eyes—or at least that's how he saw her.
"Lee Sora…"
"Ah, welcome, Kim… you look different than I imagined… I mean, in a good way! Don't take it the wrong way!"
Kim Jihoon kept looking into the eyes of his friend, whom he met in an online chat group, for a few seconds before feeling a hand touch his shoulder.
"Ahem. I think someone's forgotten about us, haven't they, Veronica?"
"Yes, yes, how rude. Just like always. He ignores us not only on Discord but in real life too!"
Kim smiled at his friend who had placed a hand on his shoulder.
He was tall, dressed in light black clothes, with a skull-shaped ring—not to mention his impressive physique.
"I think you're exaggerating, aren't you? Leonid, Veronica."
Veronica, the short russian woman with orange hair and Leonid's childhood friend, bent over the table to put out her cigarette with a soft laugh.
"You'd better make it up to us with a city tour. This country seems interesting."
"I think that job suits Miss Suzumi more, don't you think?"
After Kim's reply, Leonid, Jessica, André, and Lee Sora all turned their gaze toward the young woman with short golden hair and a black cloak, sitting with some distance between her seat and the table. Crossing one leg over the other and lowering her cup of black coffee, she spoke:
"It would be my pleasure. Nice to finally meet you, dear Kim."
"Guys… hasn't Arthur arrived yet?"
Before anyone could reply, the oldest member of the chat group friends sat next to Kim.
The British young man who was the reason this friendship existed and the moderator of the chat group—mid-twenties, wavy blond hair, brown eyes, handsome, highly charismatic, with a confident personality.
"Kim Jihoon. Our first meeting, right? Nice to meet you."
Kim Jihoon smiled. He was happy to finally meet his friends in real life. It was a friendship of years, but only in the virtual world. Distance was no longer a barrier.
.
.
.
Nearly 9 p.m.
The Black Rose Café now had a decent number of customers. Usually, they were workers or employees after a long day at work in these evening cafés—or even young people or tourists. After all, this was Tokyo.
The russian Leonid wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke tiredly:
"It's hot here. I'm not used to Tokyo summers."
"You're right, brother. Remember, we're not in Russia anymore," added Veronica, agreeing with her childhood friend.
"Wait. I'll get you some water bottles and… I know a refreshing kind of Japanese juice here."
"Thank you, Kim Jihoon!"
Lee Sora commented gratefully in a low, whisper-like tone.
Kim Jihoon slowly got up from the table and walked toward the large fridge on the café's side. He opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water and a bottle of the special orange juice.
As he walked back to his friends' table, deep in thought, he saw a sharp ray of light piercing the café's window glass. Kim Jihoon was struck with a brief blindness like someone who saw the sun from a few steps away.
He tried turning to see what was happening outside, but the white light shone from every exit. Kim's friends noticed the scene instantly and tried to block the light hopelessly with their hands or by closing their eyes.
"What the hell is this damn light? What's happening outside?"
Leonid complained in an annoyed tone.
"There must be a malfunction in the external lighting… damn, but this is way too bright,"
André offered his explanation of the situation.
"No. This light doesn't feel natural,"
Arthur denied that possibility. He stood from his seat and walked toward the nearest window. But he noticed something very strange.
There was no one in the café except him and his friends!
He looked at Kim, then at the table of friends before feeling a sharp ringing in his head. All the friends felt the same painful and annoying sensation, which lasted for seconds.
Lee Sora felt terrified by what was happening.
They all felt it to some extent.
She couldn't bear the feeling of the ringing and echo inside her ears as the white light brightened even more and filled the café.
She fell from her seat and hit the floor.
…
Lee Sora felt a hand shaking her body as she slowly opened her eyes, rubbing them gently.
"W-what exactly happened?"
The friends all let out a sigh at the same time. They were relieved to see their friend safe and sound.
Jessica spoke while helping Lee Sora stand after waking her:
"It looks like you fainted after what… happened."
"It happened to all of us. Kim Jihoon was the first to wake up,"
Arthur said, continuing with a tone of concern and a bit of confusion:
"But we don't know exactly what this place is or how we got here in the first place."
That was the situation.
They were trapped in what appeared to be a mysterious void.
Lee Sora scanned the place with her eyes.
It resembled a huge room with high white walls that emitted white light, just like the one they saw in the café. The ceiling and the floor had the same effect.
"Where's Kim Jihoon?"
Her question interrupted Arthur's train of thought as he pointed to a distant part of the room:
"He's trying to figure out what this place is."
Kim Jihoon's hand was inspecting the wall of this strange room as everyone else approached him.
The group gathered around Kim Jihoon with expressions that could only be described as less than happy.
"This place is too strange to be real."
"What makes you say that?"
André asked automatically.
"The wall has no texture—neither does the floor.
It's like we're suspended in the air or something like that."
"You might be right,"
Arthur tried to feel the wall with his hands but failed.
"Is this virtual reality? Maybe it's some kind of experiment… or a hidden camera in the café or something like that,"
Leonid gave his theory with doubt.
"You might be right. The room's dimensions nearly match the café's."
Arthur replied optimistically.
Before they could make more observations, virtual screens appeared floating in the air in front of each one of them. Their size was like computer monitors.
"Wait, what am I seeing?"
"Is everyone seeing the same thing?"
"It seems that each person has their own… 'screen'?"
Veronica spoke strangely while Leonid laughed:
"I don't know what the hell is happening, but it reminded me of game systems and web novels… isn't this something similar?"
Kim Jihoon's eyes widened in shock when he heard the word 'system'.
Everyone knew about the 'system' Leonid mentioned.
After all, it was one of their favorite topics to talk about.
"This must be a dream. I think I read too many web novel chapters before sleeping and now I'm dreaming that I'm in one."
Veronica smiled to herself.
"This is too real to be a dream."
"You're right,"
Kim Jihoon and André both spoke seriously before a fixed sentence appeared on their individual screens:
'Choose your fate'
Below the sentence were many options in the form of a scrollable page with a button to scroll down to see more.
"Choose your fate? What does that even mean?"
Lee Sora asked as she looked at her screen before Arthur replied:
"Your fate will determine your job and the nature of your life in the modern world. You cannot change your fate under any circumstances. Your fate will consist of several ranks, and there will be a reward upon completing it successfully."
Some turned to Arthur:
"How did you know that?"
"As you can see, there's an underline under the word 'fate'. When you click it, this description appears."
Everyone did as Arthur said and saw the same note appear.
"Whoa… there are so many options. Inventor, farmer… and they even have the Seer!"
"The Seer? Where? I'll become the god of the grey fog !"
Veronica joked with a loud laugh.
Her companions couldn't hold back light laughs and smiles. That was always Veronica's nature—trying to lighten tense atmospheres in the group.
Arthur smiled before returning to a focused look:
"Anyway, don't rush to choose. We don't know what this… system really is."
There were a large number of options, each different from the others.
Kim Jihoon examined the options one by one until his eyes landed on something that caught his attention.
What he saw was a special fate.
Kim thought:
"Looks interesting. I'll keep it in mind."
Kim opened his mouth to tell his friends the idea he had since he woke up in this place.
"Guys. What if… I mean, what if there's a chance this is all real? This system, the modern world it mentioned, and everything."
Everyone suddenly stopped scrolling and turned their attention to Kim Jihoon.
"What are you saying, Kim? Don't be naive. We're not in a fantasy novel."
"But we don't know what's—"
"There's definitely a logical explanation for this!"
Arthur knew he had no explanation for what was happening in front of him other than: it's a system like in games and novels. A system, and a system room they are inside. That was all he could come up with, but he still couldn't believe it.
After a moment of awkward silence, Suzumi spoke with a stifled laugh:
"I mean… it wouldn't be bad if we were transported to another world. I mean, it would be exciting, wouldn't it?"
"Yes. It would… We'd have an adventure away from our boring lives."
Leonid added dreamily, with a clear longing in his black eyes before continuing:
"The Criminal."
"Of course you'd be the criminal! Who else would choose that?"