Chapter 3: New Friend

“Su... Sure,” Mikaila’s response to the shy lady who offered to be friends with her.

The shy lady lifted her head. The aura on her face noticeably changed from timid to cheerful.

“Thank you so much!” the shy lady responded with a pleasant smile on her face.

Mikaila nodded,

“My name is Mikaila, by the way! What’s yours?”

“Oh…..I’m …. I’m Celly”

“You have a cute name!”

Celly blushed and she returned to her bashful posture again.

Mikaila curiously asks Celly,

“Are you alone? Is this your first game too?”

“Uhm… Yes, I’m alone, but I’m not new to games,” Celly answered.

“Oh! So you have knowledge about Utopian Fantasy?”

“Kind of… I read a lot about this game and I think I have enough knowledge to be competent. It’s just ..... I’m not comfortable playing with many people, especially if I need to show my face.”

“Great! Then, we can work together and help each other! I can help you with the things that need communicating with other people, and you can help me by giving me some useful tips and techniques.” Mikaila excitedly declared.

Celly’s face became pleasant again, she nodded enthusiastically as she agreed to Mikaila.

“Let’s do this!” Mikaila happily stated.

Their conversation continues.

Moments later, an announcement is heard inside the Main Hall. It caught the attention of the two ladies,

“To those who haven’t gotten their exclusive wristbands, please proceed to the Main Desk to claim it. Again, to those who haven’t gotten their exclusive wristbands, please proceed to the Main Desk to claim it.”

“Oh! I nearly forgot!” Mikaila exclaimed.

“You don’t have a wristband yet?”

“Yep! Hehe!” Mikaila responded awkwardly.

“I was so entertained by our conversation that I forgot about the next steps,” Mikaila continued.

“Oh! I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay!”

“But… I can accompany you to the desk if you want,” Celly offered.

“Sure!” Mikaila gladfully accepted.

The two walked to the Main Desk at the center of the Hall.

“Welcome to the Main Desk of the Second Station! How may I help you, two beautiful ladies?” a clerk flirtatiously greeted Mikaila and Celly when they arrived at the front of the circular desk.

Mikaila smiled and Celly blushed.

“I want to claim my wristband,” Mikaila responded.

“Got it! Just hold on a second, my lady!” the clerk said.

The clerk reaches out at the bottom of the table desk to get the exclusive wristband.

“So, do you want me to do the honor?” the clerk offered to helpfully place the band to Mikaila’s wrist.

Mikaila felt awkward at first so she faced Celly. Celly nodded as if she’s saying that it’s okay and it needs to be done.

Mikaila placed her right arm at the top of the desk.

“Is this the same arm that you placed in the chamber of the Scanning Machine at the First Station?” the clerk asked.

“Yup”

The clerk proceeded and carefully placed the band on Mikaila’s arm. The clerk, then, continued with the procedures for the installation of the band.

The band looks like a thin metallic strip with a semi-transparent coloring. It has contours engraved on it that look like embedded circuits.

After the clerk finished the necessary procedures. He tapped the band and a green light blinked at the contours.

“All done, Ms. Beautiful! Right now, the band is not fully functional. It will only operate once you have crossed the next Portal,” the clerk stated.

He continues,

“Don’t worry, Babe! They will explain the wristband’s functions later at the Third Station.”

Mikaila starts to feel awkward because the clerk is still not letting go of her hand. She tries to call the attention of the clerk by making a fake cough,

“Ahem!”

“Oh!” the clerk uttered as he let go of Mikaila’s hand.

“Sorry. You have a very soft hand. I can’t help it,” the clerk stated as he winked at Mikaila.

Mikaila was creeped out so she quickly grabbed Celly’s arm and walked away from the desk.

“Be careful and good luck out there, Babe!”

“What a creep!” Mikaila muttered.

The two distanced themselves from the Main Desk.

“Gosh! That guy gives me chills in my spine!” Mikaila groaned. She is obviously irritated.

“Uhm…. it’s okay. I… I think the clerk is just admiring you and he just wants to compliment you,” Celly awkwardly spouted.

“What!? Of course, it’s not okay! It’s creepy and it’s not charming in any way!” Mikaila uttered with disgust.

Mikaila continues,

“You should be careful of creeps like that! You’ll never know what’s in their mind!”

“Oh…. Okay!” Celly replied with an innocent tone.

“But hey! We’re friends now! I’ll protect you if creeps come and pester you!”

“Thank you! You’re so kind!”

“Anything for a friend!”

They both smiled at each other.

“So, what’s next?” Mikaila wondered.

“Hmm.. according to the clerk who installed my wristband, the next Portal will open at exactly 23:00. All of us will cross the Portal simultaneously to the Final Station,” Celly explained.

“Oh! We still have more than 15 minutes. Let’s stroll and find something to eat while waiting,” Mikaila suggested.

“Uhmm,” Celly hesitated.

“Don’t worry! Food’s on me!” Mikaila said as she grabbed Celly’s arm.

The two walked around the hall to pass the time. They also bought snacks and drinks from the food stalls in the area,

“Here’s your order,” a food stall server said as she handed over Mikaila and Celly’s food.

“Thank you!” Mikaila responded.

They started eating their food. While eating, Mikaila asked Celly,

“Hey, you said that you’re knowledgeable about Utopian Fantasy, right? Can you share some expert tips?”

“I’m not that expert as you think. I’m just a casual gamer and it so happened that I have slightly advanced knowledge about gaming trends,” Celly responded.

She continues,

“I heard that Utopian Fantasy is a game that needs heavy grinding.”

“Grinding….Wait, I think I heard about the term,” Mikaila whispered to herself.

“Ah! Right! It means we need to explore and kill a lot of monsters to get lots of valuable items!” Mikaila said.

“Uh-hmm! But it’s not just ‘killing monsters’, sometimes grinding also needs searching for hidden treasures and rare artifacts. But the main point is we need to work hard in the game. We also need luck on our side.”

“Wow! You really know a lot about games.”

Celly smiled. Suddenly, she suggested something,

“Speaking of searching. As soon as the game starts, we need to separate from the other players immediately and begin our treasure hunting right away.”

“Hmm.. is it better if we stick with groups of people? Especially when we don’t know what’s inside the game?” Mikaila curiously asked.

“I don’t think so. We need to get to the treasures first, and it’s better if it’s just the two of us. That way, we will not need to share what we will find - our earnings will not be split.”

“Sounds selfish, but you have a point,” Mikaila muttered.

Moments later, another announcement is heard in the Main Hall,

“The Portal will open after 10 minutes. Please be ready. Again, the Portal will open after 10 minutes.”

“Oh, it’s about to open. I think it’s better if we’ll get closer to the Portal,” Mikaila implied.

Celly agreed and the two walked towards the Portal.

After minutes of waiting, an announcement is heard again,

“The Portal will open shortly. Again, the Portal will open shortly.”

Not long enough, the Portal starts to operate. It emitted the opaque energy, but this time, the energy is in green color.

“You may now cross the Portal,” the announcement directed.

Mikaila and Celly held their arms and walked past the Portal as instructed. After a few steps through the Portal, they successfully crossed to the other side - the Third Station.

The two ladies felt the dizziness again, but,

“The dizziness is not as bad as before,” Mikaila noticed.

Celly agreed by nodding.

They continue walking. As they take their steps, the two ladies look over the area.

The Third Station is like an infinite room. There are no walls and there are no observable boundaries.

“Woah! It feels like I’m in a different dimension,” Mikaila commented.

Six gated arcs can be observed in the area. Floating digital text indicators can be seen at the top of each gated arc.

“I think those are the Final Portals. The labels above indicate geographical landscapes,” Mikaila said to Celly.

“So let’s see… we have Mountains, Plains, Hills, Forest, Shore, and Desert,” Celly mumbled.

“But the Portals are still closed, so let’s wait for further instructions.”

“Uh-hmm”

A large floating digital clock can also be seen in the middle of the area. The clock shows the time in UTC+14.

People are still coming from the previous Portal. The two ladies continue their strolling.

Moments later, a loud beeping alarm was heard. The previous Portal started to turn from green to red. Later on, the Portal started closing. people who are still crossing are already running to get to the Third Station, it’s like they are hurrying to pass through before the Portal completely closes.

Not long after, the previous Portal closed and vanished. The people that succeeded to cross the Portal at the last seconds are catching their breaths.

“What was that!?” one of the people exclaimed.

“Hey! There are still people that haven’t crossed yet!” another shouted.

“My friend was left at the Second Station!” another yelled.

The commotion continues. Later on, a familiar figure showed up out of nowhere.

“Wait, isn’t that the spokesperson from the live broadcast last week?” a person whispered.

“Oh! Indeed he is!” another confirmed.

The spokesperson walked in front of the people. He faced the crowd and paused for a second. He breathes deeply and announced,

“Welcome to the Third and Final Station!”