"La... la la... la...." A woman's voice hums softly in the darkness. The intermittent notes echo across the silent abyss.
Where? Where am I?
"Oh? You're finally awake..."
Who?
"Do you remember anything... Our names, our faces... Do you... remember who we are." A soft voice whispered in her ears.
Eve wanted to respond, but to no avail; nothing came out of her throat. She couldn't even move her body.
"Poor girl, you must be confused. But it's fine... As long as you remember who you are, you haven't lost everything yet." Eve was taken aback when she was pulled into a warm's embrace.
Who are you? Eve asked in her mind feeling a familiar embrace.
"It's not time yet; go back for now..."
Wait!!! Eve felt someone pulling her out of the darkness. She tried to reach out her hand to the darkness.
"...We... will wait for you... For as long as it takes."
...
"Eve, wake up! wake up!" Zeke's face was filled with worry as he shook Eve's shoulders without stopping.
"Is the doctor not here yet?" Sifer shouted at the poor young boy standing at the door.
"He... he said that he's close." The young boy was shaking when he answered.
Sifer looks worriedly at Eve's face, twitching and sweating buckets on her bed. He had been trying to wake her up for almost half an hour, but all he received was her murmuring questions.
"Where am I?"
"Who? Who are you?!"
"Wait!!" Eve's hand reaches out in the air unconsciously. After hanging in the air, her hand weakly fell on the bed.
Eve finally woke up from Sifer's nonstop shouts. "Hey, wake up!"
It felt like her eardrums were about to burst from his shouts. "Shut up!" Eve shouted. She tried to get up first, but there's something heavy on her body.
She weakly opened her eyes and was met with Sifer's amber coloured-eyes and long raven-black hair staring into her eyes. "Hey, boss... can you get up?" Eve asked weakly.
Sifer did not act right away. Instead, he stares into her eyes intensely, ensuring she is alright.
A few seconds of his stare made Eve's cheek blush attractively. Her striking hazel coloured-eyes curiously stared back right at him. Her pajamas were crumpled, and her long ash-brown hair billowed on the feathered pillow like paint...
Sifer started to question how he did not notice how beautiful Eve was.
"Sife?" Eve asked, feeling creeped out by Sifer's laser gaze.
Sifer woke up from his stupor, propped himself up, moved out of the bed, and then sat on the chair. "Are you fine?" He did not forget to ask how she was doing.
"Yeah, why are you shouting earlier?" Eve pointed at Chris standing at the door. "And you get out and close the door." She probably looked like a mess right now. There's no way she'll let everyone see her in her pajamas this early in the morning.
"Yes!" Chris instantly closes the door.
"Explain??" Eve went to the mirror and fixed herself while waiting for Sifer's answer.
"Do you know how long it took for me to wake you up?"
"How long." Eve turned her head curiously.
"Half an hour! You are talking in your sleep and not responding no matter what I do." Sifer was literally shouting just to wake her up.
"That..." Eve was speechless. Did she really not wake up for that long?
"You don't look well. Did you have a nightmare?" Sifer asked.
"No... I had a dream..." Eve racks her brain, trying to remember her dream. Yet no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't remember a thing but darkness. "What was it...?"
Chris, the young boy, earlier entered the room and informed them of the doctor's arrival. "Uncle, the doctor is here."
"Doctor?"
"We were worried, so we called a doctor. Get dressed first, then let the doctor check up on you. Our team's ace can't be in bad shape for Eden's Soul's first day of release." Sifer stood up and headed to the door. "Eve... If you're troubled by something. I'll always be here to help." Sifer said before he closed the door.
She looked at herself in the mirror. "Who are you?"
...
Eve's quick shower did not take long; she dressed casually and then fixed the room a little. She called the female doctor in for a check-up. The company's paying for it, so there's no need for her to be reserved.
Sifer and their female manager accompanied the doctor. They worry too much about her, but she can't blame them. It's an important day for everyone, after all, so she needs to be in tip-top shape.
The doctor brought out her tools and then asked her tons of questions. After carefully checking her body, the doctor did not find any wrong with her. The doctor left them with a few advice, like resting earlier, taking breaks, and changing to a healthier diet a little.
After the doctor left, everyone was back to work mode instantly. "The VR capsules arrived. Want to check it out?" Mane, their manager, asked.
"How many did we buy?" Eve asked.
"Of course, each one of you will get a capsule. And we bought two extras in case of emergencies." Mane answered. "It's the first full dive VRMMORPG, so the company expects a lot from us. If we are the first pro team to fully adapt to the full dive system, it will be a huge advantage for us once tournaments start. So let's do our best for more sponsors!!" Mane excitedly leads them to the gym.
Eve and Sifer, however, are not as enthusiastic as Mane. They know that there's a big difference between being a pro player using a mouse and keyboard and being a pro player in a full-dive virtual reality game.
Eve has read numerous novels to know that athletic people will definitely top in virtual reality games. She doesn't even go out that much not to mention exercise. "Should I start exercising?" Eve looks at her body; she is not skinny or fat, but she's far from what she considers fit. She only knows how to play games on the computer, but Eve doesn't want to lose her only source of income.
"You should get out of your room often. I'll help you out, so let's start tomorrow morning." Sifer suggested.
Sifer's intimidating eyes look at her as if she can't say no. "Fine, fine." Eve raised her hands and gave up.
"All the necessary equipment is in the gym, so feel free to use it," Mane added. "Anyway, we're here." Mane opened the door of the gym.
The three of them entered the vast gym and instantly saw the ten large virtual reality capsules in plain sight. There are various colors, from black to white, blue to red, etc. "Choose one, and the workers will transfer it to your room." Mane moved to the pink-colored capsule and then placed her hand on it. "It's a first come, first served basis, and this one's mine."
Both of them looked at her with contempt. It's not like someone will compete with her for the color pink. Eve doesn't like pink, and there's no woman on the team other than them.
Eve scanned all the capsules and decided to pick the blue one. While Sifer chose the black capsule beside her.
Mane instructed the workers first, then looked at the time. "Now that we are done let's eat." She ignored their gaze and headed to the dining area.
Eve rubbed her empty stomach. She'll eat a lot today and then burn it all in tomorrow's exercise.
Sifer and Eve followed Mane to the dining area.
...
After eating their breakfast, Sifer and Eve went back to their rooms. Since they are the first ones to choose, the capsule is already in the corner of Sifer and Eve's room.
It's still 9 in the morning, three hours before Eden's servers open. Tons of time for Eve to do last-minute research on the first full dive game in the world, Eden's Soul.
Eve hops on her PC and starts to search for any information.
...
"What kind of bullsh*t is this?" Eve turned off her pc in anger.
After searching for two hours, all she found was speculations and tons of nonsense theories. No one knows any good information about Eden's Soul.
Everyone has the same question with no answer.
What does the game look like?
Does it have different races?
What are the classes?
How many weapons?
Ranks?
And many more,
Everyone is facing a wall.
Everyone only knows that it is funded by the world government and the release time. "Guess I'll figure things out inside." Eve looked at the capsule.
There's an hour left.
Eve left her room and headed to the dining area. Reading nonsense drained the heck out of her, so she went for early lunch.
Maybe Sifer was thinking the same thing as her because the two of them opened the door simultaneously. "Let's eat?" Sifer suggested.
Eve agreed.
The dining area was bustling when they arrived since everyone was already awake.
They took their time eating while discussing their plans for the future with the team.
After eating, they said their goodbyes and went back to their rooms. Eve went back together with Sifer.
"Eve," Sifer called Eve before he entered his room.
"Hmm?" Eve turned to look at him.
"If there's a chance... Let's meet up in-game; I'll carry you." Sifer suggested with good intentions but was met with eyes full of doubt.
Eve shook her head. "Isn't it the other way around?" The game is still unknown to everyone. She'll only find out once she enters the game. Hopefully, the game won't be too hard on her, or else she'll lose her job
Eve entered her room, ignoring Sifer.
"I'll show you." Sifer also entered his room, determined to work hard. He'll show her what those taekwondo classes he took can do in the game.
...
It's currently 11: 57 a few minutes before the game officially starts.
"Let's do this!" Eve stretched her body before she pushed a button in the middle of the capsule. The capsule's lid automatically moved to the side.
After the capsule fully opened itself up, Eve entered and slowly lay down inside. Once she's in, the lid automatically closes itself.
Eve tried to look around, but there was no light inside. She couldn't see anything but darkness. She thought that she'll suffocate inside sooner or later, yet strangely enough, it doesn't feel uncomfortable.
She doesn't know what materials they use, but sleeping here seems more comfortable than in her bed.
As time passed, a woman's voice echoed in her ears.
[30 seconds remaining]
[Do you wish to have a countdown?]
[Yes or No?]
"Yes," Eve answered.
[10]
[9]
[8]
...
[5]
[4]
Eve's heart beat faster and faster as she listened to the countdown.
Just like Eve, everyone around the world enthusiastically counted inside their capsules.
[3]
[2]
It's here!!!
[1]
[Do you wish to enter Eden?]
"Yes," Eve answered without wasting any time.
[To enter, please use the command 'System Start']
"System star..." Before she could even complete the command, a bright flash of light enveloped her vision.
Then a woman's voice whispered in her ears.
[Welcome to Eden...]
[Please create your character...]