Reborn Online

Endings And Beginnings

It has been a week since the logout option disappeared without a trace. During this week, those who were trapped within the game along with the health experts learnt that somehow their bodies didn't grow fragile nor perish without nutrition within the reality as long as they did eat and exercise within the game. The ability of sending messages and talk between the reality and the game making it easier for scientists to examine this phenomenon.

Month in, most schools had started to send the school work into the game so the students who were trapped could still go forward with their educations, some even graduating while inside the game, their speeches being streamed in the schools, with special NPCs handing out the data copies of their papers.

Natael was one of these people, the young man standing up in his office, surrounded by his closest friends, wine glasses in their hands.

He'd given his speech previously and a representative from the University (an NPC by the name Toivo) had handed him his papers, which he hadn't even glanced at. He knew all too well what it'd say. So he'd just put it into his inventory and turned his attention on the others. The stream had already ended so now it was just him and his friends. He looked at them, properly looked at them, still saddened by his inability to see his family physically yet.

They'd been given the word that the company was working on the problem, but it'd take a time. The game was based on an advanced self-learning AI which made it very delicate and hard to tao into. The positive outlook was that they'd be free in six months, more realistic point stated nine. And the pessimist? Never.

They'd learnt a lot about one another during the past months, tiny habits, personal needs, views. Likes and dislikes.

And surprisingly enough, Naoki had opened up a lot more about his private life, openly longing to log out, his full personality shining through the character they'd learnt him to be. It wasn't really that Naoki and Natael were separate people, they were the same person, but from shifted perspective. Natael being more accustomed into completing the tasks that asked for heavy logic, socialising and so forth, Naoki was the innovative and creative side. As a full on personality though? It was clear that the Primo of the Paravento Famiglia longed for freedom and preferred more bohemian lifestyle. He got fidgety often, and being around people for too long made him almost claustrophobic. He was also an excellent speaker, he just hated to be put into the spot and be in the middle of the attention. He'd also have times when he was more aloof, preferring to be in solitude when that happened.

Sadly, not many of those who were around him could comprehend this idea.

Few more days passed and the Don was once again supporting his disguise, ultimately running into a woman with blue tinted hair. The second he'd laid eyes on her, Naoki felt uncomfortable and that he needed to get away from the young female. He didn't manage to do this, sadly, as the woman had immediately zoned into him.

Naoki blinked several times as she spoke to him in a very broken Japanese and he cringed internally. She was telling her name to be Kanna and that she liked how he looked. A lot. She stated that it made her think about Reborn and Naoki cringed more.
He really didn't know how to react to this situation, was he being flirted with? Why was this woman so keen on clinging to him? Who was she?
"Please stop, you're making me uncomfortable", he grunted in Japanese as an answer, silently thanking Valentino for teaching him to speak it more fluently, but the woman wouldn't stop. She was in middle of declaring her love for him as of that moment, making the poor man even more uncomfortable.

After a while, the girl switched to English, thank heavens, starting to ask more private questions from Naoki, who tried his best to dodge them, his eyes darting to different directions in hopes of finding a way out.