[🔔Ding!🔔]
[Intern Remote Orientation Task 2: Live Laugh Love, Let's Decorate Within 6 Hours is Complete!]
[🎉👏👏👏👏👏🎉WOW🎉👏👏👏👏👏🎉]
The now familiar completion notice rang out, and I couldn't help but look around with interest.
Although the building's external design stayed the same, the interior was meticulously designed to fit my needs with the suddenly generous (?) Budget.
There were currently three floors: the top with the single bedroom and bathroom, which I planned to expand in the future; the middle floor had a kitchen that led to the bar/dining area; the standard room on the other side, and a foyer where I had put the desk.
The decor was minimalistic, and everything was illuminated by golden globes of light that hovered high in the air.
Dark wooden floors ran throughout the entire place, and leather and wooden stools were sat by the long bar top made of dark wood that took up one side of the room.
In the open area, circular tables and chairs made of sturdy wood were placed for easy dining and chatting.
The common area had a sturdy coffee table and leather couches that sat by a functioning fireplace.
Taking it all in, I followed the slightly odd feeling in my body and walked down the steps to the open space for storage.
Neat dark wood floors over concrete, no windows, and no doors.
It should have been dark and gloomy, but the lights that hung from the ceiling made it warm and welcoming.
Opening a nonobtrusive door that blended into the white walls, I walked in and saw a floating wooden ball.
Tapping it gently, the ball slowly shed layers of wrapped wood, displaying the feather and golden seed that had shrunk about a third of the way down.
Faint golden lights seeped from the seed to the feather, which seemed slightly thicker and more vibrant.
Sticking out my hand, I poked the feather and felt the faint, weak presence from earlier mentally approaching and connecting with me, like a little bird fluttering its wings against my cheek while softly pecking.
Through the connection, I could clearly sense the entire Waystation building, from the floors to the rooms, and it felt like, with just a thought, I could control everything: shifting the room order, messing with the floor and wall, and changing the floor sizes, all without anything showing outside.
Curious, I gestured toward the wooden floorboard, which obligingly bent upward, although I could hear it creaking.
"Huh. Interesting." I kept mentally pushing the wood until it snapped off, losing the connection.
I immediately felt a flurry of anger, as if a tiny woodpecker was angrily slamming my face.
"Yeah, yeah, it's my bad. I won't do it again. I was testing something."
Properly apologizing to the feather, I watched as the broken piece of wood slowly absorbed into the floor, and the jagged edge began growing again until it was whole.
It was one of the Waystation's known abilities. Given enough time and materials, it would slowly heal itself.
Seeing that it was working as expected, I nodded before touching the feather again and focusing on the new senses.
Apart from this building, to a lesser extent, I could also sense the surrounding areas and feel things moving around.
I couldn't identify if they were people or animals; it was just a vague sensation of knowing something was there, the general size and atmosphere.
A small group was outside the waystation with some people scattered further away, and there was also a sort of dead zone at the lake that felt slightly dangerous.
The further from the building I tried to sense, the fainter the sensation of individuals was.
Still, it was pretty satisfactory for now, and I will have to get used to it and hope it becomes more valuable.
"Oi, Feather. Since you have a new skill, what exactly can you do?" I asked the feather curiously, tapping it lightly and laughing when it ducked away and wrapped the wood around itself and the seed, leaving a little light peeking out.
Ideally, I was hoping for magic cannons or a transformer-like sequence where it could battle, but I would be grateful if any offensive or defensive powers were given.
Alas, disappointment was the constant in my life.
The sensation I felt when I returned to the feather was like a casual shrug—in other words, a big, fat ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
"…you don't know? I have to wait until you absorb the seed entirely, and I shouldn't rush you. Don't give me that bullshit answer; think carefully before responding."
I began counting to ten while rubbing my suddenly throbbing forehead.
This time, it felt like a head tilt of confusion and a jumbled explanation.
"…a little more creative freedom? More rooms? Just settle with the doors for now, and you'll get back to me? What the hell does that mean?"
The sensation from the feather returned to a casual shrug, and then a feeling of being told to relax, it wanted to try something since it got a nice gift. It would update me later✧～(ゝᴗ ∂ )
Cyril: ಠ_ಠ
Cyril: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Immediately angered, I grabbed the wooden ball and tried to pry it open while the feather began to close the little crack in the wooden ball shut.
"Hey, Little Oasis. Yeah, that's right, that's your name now. Don't piss me off. I gave up a personal protection skill for you. My prowess skill! I could have been Superman on this earth, but instead, I gave that choice to you, and you dare tell me to calm down? After I spent 20 points on a skill, you wanted from the employee store, even though some dog might come and kill me? I should have known that anything from this bullshit company is a scam. You're definitely on their side. Spit it out! Spit it out now, and maybe I can get a partial refund."
In return, the sensation felt like a little kid cursing with a bird pecking angrily at my head.
Using my foot to hold the wooden ball to the ground, I began prying at the crack with all my might, putting my entire body weight into it.
The seed, not to be outdone, raised wooden planks to cover the exposed gap even more, trying to force my fingers out.
I immediately began mentally forcing those planks away, and the ball tried to jerk backward, causing the whole cycle to repeat.
After 10 minutes.
"Come out, Little Oasis, I won't beat you up. Promise."
Little Oasis: (≖⩊≖) Who would believe you with that red and angry face? Go take a bath, you filthy animal, and wait for me to digest this thing properly.
Cyril: ಠ_ಠ
Feeling the derisive words after interpreting the mental sensation, the battle immediately intensified with one young man using planks to try and pry open a wooden ball and the wooden ball using planks to attack the fingers of the young man.
After 20 minutes of struggling, I was panting and sweating from exhaustion, the wooden ball had a bigger crack and was no longer floating in the air, and the floor around was destroyed, exposing the gray concrete.
As the feather sent a sensation of exhaustion, claiming to need peace and quiet to continue absorbing the seed while reluctantly conceding defeat, I nodded in approval.
"You have about 18 hours before the absorption is done. There better be a useful skill coming out of you apart from these teleporting doors. Otherwise, you'll become kindling for roasted marshmallows. Got it?"
A shake of agreement, and the golden light faded as the feather was covered by wood planks again, and the floor regenerated itself.
Nodding in approval, I ignored the sensation of angry pecking on my face with a vow to pay me back one day and returned up the steps.
Truly, violence was the right answer for disobedient chicks.
Utilizing the connection to the feather, the land, and building, I could still feel, I turned off all the lights and opened a door that led to the bedroom upstairs.
The moment I stepped through it, I was in the only bedroom.
I had done my best to recreate the bedroom of my house, adding a large, cozy king bed, a fluffy comforter, and plenty of semi-firm pillows.
The air was set at a steady 20 °C with no airflow turned on, and the window was utterly dark, letting no light in.
Even when I shut the door, it was entirely black, with no airflow and no sound coming in from the hallway, like a silent tomb.
It was perfect.
Satisfied, I went to the bathroom, noting the tile floor, large tub with numerous shower attachments, and sink.
Naturally, everything was bright white, including the fluffy towels I splurged on and the bedding in the bedroom.
As steam began to fill the room, I finally relaxed.
With no hesitation, I quickly jumped in, letting the pressurized hot water sweep over my body.
Ahhhh, this was the life.
I could feel all the stress leaving my body.
Letting the water run clear, I scrubbed my body with a washcloth, using the tiny-sized soap and shampoo that were included.
Stepping out, I observed myself in the mirror, noticing that the black dye in my hair was completely gone for some reason.
The damp white strands clung to my forehead and neck, leaving an itchy, annoying feeling behind.
My eyes had dark bags under them, and the usual pale blue color looked purple due to the pronounced blood vessels and overall redness in my eyes.
Looking down at the scar that ran its way around my body and the little bite marks on my torso, I touched the raised tissue thoughtfully.
I would have exited the world just like that.
Over a cell phone and some cash. How freaking scary.
Tomorrow, I would deal with the other delivered items and get my hands on some weapons, some hair dye, clean clothes, food, and a phone.
But first, I needed to try to get some rest.
Even though I had crafted the bedroom to be as comfortable and identical to my home setup, I didn't know if it was possible for me to sleep in it, but I needed to try at least. Since I could more or less control every part of the waystation, I thought it would work.
Leaving the dirty clothes behind, I returned to the bedroom in a towel before remembering that I hadn't received my promised reward yet.
"Hey. HR chatbox, Where's the pen I was promised?"
[😊Here 😊]
A black multi-cartridge pen appeared in my hand, with 11 colored slideable tabs and a 😊topper at the end.
I immediately began clicking all the tabs, but nothing happened.
I tried to click two sliders together, which caused the gold-colored slider to break off.
Cyril: ಠ_ಠ
"…..does this pen do anything?"
[😊It takes notes really well, and it's pretty sturdy.😊]
Are we going to pretend that a piece of it didn't just come off? What part of it is sturdy?
"…..anything else?"
[😊You'll always be able to find it when it's lost. You'll always have something to write with. Isn't that great?! 😊]
I would never admit it, but that was a really good feature.
Still…just a pen?
Is there nothing hidden?
Are you sure?
"…..anything else?"
[😊It's a pen. What are you expecting? A sword hidden inside? A treasure map? Grow up. 😊]
Cyril: ಠ_ಠ
Before I could say anything, another screen popped up with an ominous sound.
[🔔Ding!🔔]