Pillar of Yita

In the dark room, only a rectangular screen emitted a flickering light. The cramped space seemed cluttered with many cardboard boxes and haphazardly arranged books. The door slid open with a sound, and a bearded man entered carrying a cup of coffee. The light from the screen reflected on his somewhat gaunt face; though he wasn’t very old, his hair was a bit messy, and he wore black-rimmed glasses over heavy dark circles.

He took a sip of coffee, set the cup beside the screen, then pushed his glasses up to look at the information on the screen—it was the classic main interface of the virtual community in the China Competition Region. He yawned while deftly clicking on the avatar of a girl with burning hair, entering his personal center.

Inside the mailbox were piles of notification alerts and emails, though most were community notices and advertisements and some insignificant replies. The man’s gaze rapidly skimmed through the text, leaping from word to word until a reply caught his eye.

He glanced at the information of the person who had replied, a cryptic smile appearing on his lips. He placed his hand on the glass pane in front of him, and a keyboard shape emerged from the pane as it detected the faint bioelectric current.

Though more advanced in design, the keyboard still resembled its ancestor from a century ago. The man yawned again while his slender fingers rapidly tapped on the keyboard like raindrops, quickly typing a reply.

He didn’t check it, blinked, and then pressed the send button:

Poster: Shana, Post Time: 10/9, 22:16

”We are scouting players with potential—”

Silver Forest Lobby—

With a ding-dong, Mu Xue, who was listlessly sitting with her personal terminal propped against her chin, jumped, nearly throwing the device out of her hands.

She cautiously looked around, relieved after seeing no one had noticed her blunder. Her lively eyes cleverly shifted as she stretched her neck to sneak a peek in Wu Di’s direction.

The latter was interacting with a group. Next to them, a man in a black trench coat remained silent, then all three walked toward the large screen on one side of the lobby, moving away from her.

She thoughtfully pulled her gaze back, muttering to herself, ”I didn’t believe the message above; I just wanted to check the reply, yes, that’s it.”

Nodding firmly, she then opened her personal terminal where her personal center indeed showed a private message. She slid her finger across the screen with curiosity, and the content of the reply popped into view:

”We are scouting players with potential—”

”Huh?”

”Are they saying I have potential?”

”How does this guy know? That’s so weird, I barely post videos in the community,” she suddenly smirked, confidently typing with a two-finger tap on the screen:

Poster: catputian, Post Time: 10/9, 22:17

”Are you trying to trick me? I won’t fall for it. Even if you say so, I’m not surprised, and besides, I’m already an Official Summoner.”

In the dark, the man choked on his coffee at this response.

He hastily set the cup back in place, mopping up the spilled liquid from the glass pane with a tissue while coughing, a combination of snot and tears. Just then, the door slid open again, and a handsome man holding a stack of books appeared at the doorway, frowning at the dim environment.

”Why don’t you turn on the lights, are you a vampire?”

”Cough, cough, cough, I don’t like to.”

”That’s bad for your eyes, and you’re a professional summoner, you shouldn’t need a reminder,” said the handsome man, putting down the pile of books. He pressed a switch abruptly, and soft light radiated from the ceiling, floor, and walls all around.

The room became brightly lit, filled with scattered papers, cardboard boxes, and various books. A pile of draft papers on a low table was filled with valuable information, mostly data on the monsters of Eteliria and the local cultures. If Fang Hong were here, he would recognize these documents at a glance as invaluable treasures.

The man in front of the computer continued to cough violently, shielding his eyes with a hand as if the light were unbearable. The tall, handsome man at the door watched his disheveled state with disapproval: ”What mischief are you up to now?”

”Nothing, cough, cough, cough,” the bearded man pounded on his chest, taking a while to catch his breath: ”Damn it, R, I think I’ve encountered an idiot.”

”No surprise there, you encounter them every day,” R shook his head. ”Go look in the bathroom mirror; you might even see what the idiot looks like.”

”Haha, that joke isn’t funny, R.” The former tried to joke, an attempt to gloss over the situation. He cleared the water stains from the glass pane, then sat back down, opened a notepad on the screen, and recorded under the ID Catputian:

”The girl, her mind is off—”

R glanced at his screen, saw the ID named Shana, and remarked coolly, ”You have time for these trivialities, better find something meaningful to do.”

The man shrugged, ”What meaningful work is there now? We’ve been restricted from activities for over two years; do you think they’ll give us a chance to go back? You know exactly what those people are like.”