Since there weren't many customers in the bar, they decided to pass the time by playing handheld consoles.
They were competing to see who could finish Super Mario the fastest. Hyacinth was holding a black handheld console, fully immersed in the gameplay, when suddenly a hand reached across the table and gently placed a pink console down.
She immediately looked up to see who had already finished—and saw that it was Aurora.
With a smug expression, Aurora casually ate fries while watching Soren play. Of all of them, Soren was the worst at video games.
Aurora glanced at Hyacinth with a sneering smile, then looked away. Hyacinth gritted her teeth, her eyes burning with determination. She swore she would finish this game no matter what.
A loud cheer echoed through the room—Sora was celebrating her win, loudly cheering for herself as she placed her console on the table with a dramatic flourish. On the screen of her white handheld console, the words "Congratulations!" were proudly displayed.
Meanwhile, Hyacinth was just about to finish hers.
"...How are they so good at this kid's toy?" she muttered. She had never been particularly fond of those kinds of games—they were just distractions to her.
She preferred reading books about accounting or flipping through the newspaper.
This world was advanced in technology, and in games too. There were already series similar to Mario, even more than what existed in her previous world during this year. Someone had already developed the game she once knew, and it was available on computers.
At first, when she transmigrated here, she thought she could develop games to make money, simply copying and pasting what already existed in her previous world. But clearly, this world was advanced in gaming as well.
It even had more popular titles, like in her previous life—LOL, Battlefield, COD, and other stuff. Even VR was more advanced here, although expensive.
Aurora immediately abandoned the idea of creating games. Instead, when she searched, she noticed the food industry wasn't doing well. It looked like the concept of nutrition liquid was already taking shape in this world.
She thought this kind of thing belonged to a futuristic setting, but no—it was still 2004, for lord's sake!
But it was in her favor to build a food industry.
Hyacinth had already finished her game while they were still waiting on the ever stubborn Soren. She was the kind of player who wasn't particularly good at games but never stopped playing them anyway.
Out of everyone, she was probably the one who put the most effort into gaming.
Meanwhile, Sora was absentmindedly feeding fries to Soren.
Bored, Sora suddenly said bluntly, "Oh, by the way—Rose was actually in a relationship with someone from one of your rival companies, Hyacinth."
She had only found out about it recently. Hyacinth probably didn't care about Rose anymore, so Sora just brought it up casually.
Soren and Aurora immediately turned to look at her, both of them clearly wanting to slap a piece of tape over her mouth.
They glanced at Hyacinth's expression, but she showed no reaction—just her usual calm, casual demeanor.
"Mhm, I figured," she said simply.
The two let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Suddenly, someone barged in. "Kids, time to go," said a beautiful woman—Claris.
"Okay, Aunt Claris," the four of them responded in unison. By now, the three had grown quite close to Claris, even though she always looked mildly disgusted whenever they called her "Aunt." That reaction, of course, was exactly what made it so satisfying for them.
"Don't call me that," she said with a scowl.
They nodded as if they understood.
Claris didn't believe them for a second. She snorted and walked away.
They quickly grabbed their things and walked onto the stage near their resting room.
The stage was a little dark, with shadows all around. A microphone stood at the front, ready to use. In the middle, two guitar players were getting into place. Behind them, a drum set was set up, waiting for the drummer to start playing.
Aurora looked around the stage, scanning the crowd. She could see people dancing, couples making out, groups laughing together, and even a few individuals sitting alone.
This kind of atmosphere wasn't unfamiliar to her—back in her previous world, she would occasionally visit bars too. Usually lesbian bars, where she could be herself without hiding.
But even in those places, she never had the confidence to start a relationship—not even a one night stand.
She was the type of person who liked to take responsibility for her actions and finish what she started. Casual encounters never appealed to her, because she believed in following through, not leaving things half done or without meaning.
She had never broken that rule—not then, and not now.
Hyacinth tapped the microphone to check if it was working. It crackled to life, confirming it was. She glanced behind her and gave a nod.
The other three nodded back in unison, signaling they were ready.
Claris signaled the DJ to stop as the lights dimmed. The music that had been playing faded out smoothly, ending right on cue.
Hyacinth cleared her throat—and then, a brand new song began to play. A spotlight illuminated the stage just as the opening notes filled the room.
As Hyacinth began to sing, the surrounding lights dimmed again, drawing all attention to her.
"I saw you dancing in her light
Like I was never in your life
You said love, but meant goodbye"
The onlookers, who had been busy dancing, chatting, or lost in their own worlds, paused and turned toward the sound.
At first, they glanced at the DJ, assuming it was just another track. But then they realized—the voice wasn't coming from the speakers. It was live.
Their eyes shifted to the stage in surprise.
Some even thought it was a pre-recorded song from a well known brand that had launched a popular track last year.
The voice matched the style so perfectly, they almost couldn't believe it was real—until they saw Hyacinth standing there, singing with raw emotion.