Game Over

STAGE SIX >> First Date

This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are all products of the author's imagination used in fictitious manner. Any resemblance to an actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

■□■□■□■□■□■

– kissaten (喫茶店) cafe, coffee shop; you could get light meals to go with your coffee, and no alcohol was sold. It is an old-style Japanese tearoom that also serves coffee and sweets.

– Sumiyaki Coffee (す み や き) is Coffee roasted by using Sumi (charcoal). Usually, coffee roasters worldwide use gas or electricity to roast coffee, but some roasters in Japan specialize in roasting coffee using Sumi charcoal.

– Good Morning! (おはようございます) "Ohayou-gozaimasu!" or simply "Ohayou!" (It is early).
– Onegaishimasu (おねがいします) is used to make requests for someone who is higher than you or a stranger.
■□■□■□■□■□■

"Good morning, you're up early!"

Hirano Yuki yawned, his face was full of drowsiness as he greeted a random coworker back, "Good morning."

It was now Monday and Yuki found himself waking inside the elevator. He watched the number increase until he finally arrived at the floor where he works. Two days had passed since he and his friends played the game called "Incarnate". The first launch was a massive success and the steam website declared a total of 856 players/214 teams that participated and logged in within the game server at the date of its launch. As a result, demands to produce more headsets came in as a petition for those who weren't able to secure the game since it was a limited release.

Honestly speaking, no one anticipated that "Incarnate" will be sold-out in the market. They were people supporting it but a lot of skeptics prevented the market to release more fearing that the public might just rebuke it and it would just end up in the warehouse like many other first-timers who tried their luck in the gaming market.

It was the same for Hirano Yuki. Even when his sister bought it for him, it took him an hour or so after entering the game to finally accept that "Incarnate" was something different and unlike the others.

"Yuki! Yuki!"

Yuki who was supposed to head to the pantry for a quick coffee before the start of his shift heard a familiar voice calling and immediately regretted turning his body only to see a smile painted Shiro Kenta's face from ear to ear. Why is this person so happy? Yuki thought ruefully.

"Ohayou Yuki-san!" greeted Kenta who snake his arm around his like they have known each other for a long time.

Yuki wasn't oblivious to what Kenta wanted but it was an impossible request. For now.

"How many times do I have to tell you that Hikaru can't just meet you anywhere because he's a very busy person," he lied. The truth was, he wasn't actually certain if Hikaru would agree to go on a date with Kenta, who claims to be an avid fan. "He's also a public figure. What is he supposed to tell his fans if they see you two out and about?"

"I'll take him somewhere private. I promise!" Kenta insisted. At the back of his mind, he was thinking that if he do this every day, Yuki would come to his senses until he finally agree to help him. He was his ticket to meet the love of his life—the famous influencer and blogger—Sawaya Hikaru.