Chapter Text
Rumi stepped out of the elevator, a stoic and practiced expression painted on her face as she passed by the assistant manning the desk. Celine had called her to her office early this afternoon for a PR event meeting. Something about a charity event that would be held in a few days. She knocked softly on the door.
“Come in.” She heard and slowly opened the door. She saw Celine at her desk and a man she hadn't seen before sitting across from her.
“Rumi, You’re finally here.” Rumi ignored the slight terse look on Celine's face and gave her most practiced smile.
“Apologies, there was a bit of traffic.” Rumi explained her voice calm as ever as she walked over.
“Right, well… have a seat. This is Robert Yoon from Polaris Games and he’s approached me for a potential PR event we could have you collaborate on.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Ryu, You can just call me Bobby.” He said as he stood up and stuck his hand out to shake Rumi’s hand. He was shorter than Rumi, stout build but he had kind eyes and Rumi felt herself relax a little.
“Nice to meet you, Bobby, please call me Rumi. You said Polaris Games I’m not sure I follow exactly what's happening?” Rumi replied as she sat down on the second seat, Bobby sat back down as well. It was Celine who answered.
“Mr. Yoon, here has approached us for a possibility of you participating in an exhibition match of a video game that will broadcasted and live streamed. All proceeds will be going to a charity their company has set up.” She explained and Rumi could only nod. Her brow furrowed a tiny bit in confusion.
“A video game? I’m sorry, Bobby, but I’m afraid I’m not really well versed in that sphere. I’m not sure it would be very entertaining.” Rumi explained as Bobby suddenly became excitable.
“Oh you don’t need to worry about skill level! It’s just an exhibition match, winning or losing doesn’t matter. As we’re doing this for the sole purpose of charity. As Ms. Kang has mentioned we would like to hold this match as a way to raise money for a non profit charity our company has set up. It will all be for fun.” He explained with a grin.
“It’ll also be great exposure for you, Rumi, to an entirely new audie–” Celine started to say.
“What’s the charity?” Rumi cut her off. She’ll deal with Celine’s lecture about being rude later.
“Oh! It’s to raise money for Mental health and social services for at-risk LGBTQ youth. We've noticed a severe lack of these services for the young population and a significant portion of our player-base has identified themselves as LGBT, and who would we be if we didn’t show up for our players? Statistics show that people under the LGBTQ umbrella are at much higher risk of suffering from depression and anxiety and are especially vulnerable here in Korea, where public opinion often blocks their access to seeking help.” Bobby further explained.
Rumi stiffened; it was almost imperceptible to the people around her. She looked at Celine with a slightly accusatory look, but steeled herself back.
“I know you’ve mentioned you aren’t a gamer or even really aware of this sphere, but I think it would be a good opportunity to raise awareness–” Bobby tried to continue, but was cut off.
“I’ll do it.” Rumi replied with a smile. Bobby was caught off guard, but a giant grin bloomed on his face.
“That’s great! Really great! Ms. Rumi, I’m so glad!” Bobby said excitedly as he stood up and shook Rumi’s hand in excitement. “The event is in 3 days! Our team will email the exact details to your agency and we’ll also send you the materials you may need. Considering you don’t play games, am I right to assume you don’t have a set up?” Bobby asked. Rumi looked at him in confusion.
“A… set up?” She asked and Bobby laughed.
“I thought as much. We’ll also send you a gaming laptop to help ease you into the game. Don’t worry about the account. We can set that up for you too. We will be sending it to you later today. Consider it a gift.” Bobby said and Rumi could only nod, only understanding a bit of it. She had a laptop already, so didn't quite understand why she would need another one.
“Well it seems like everything has been agreed upon. Mr. Yoon, I’ll have my assistant escort you out and give you the necessary contact information.” Celine explained as Bobby shook her hand again as well as Rumi’s
“Thank you again, Ms. Rumi, you won’t regret it!” Bobby said with a grin as he walked out the door.
When the door finally closed with a soft click. Rumi turned to Celine.
“Are you kidding me?” She said, her tone hard as she held her frustration back.
“Rumi, don’t start–” Celine tried to reply.
“What is this, Celine, a consolation prize?!” Rumi stated, her voice tense as she tried her best to keep herself from yelling in anger.
“Do not use that tone with me, Rumi, I raised you better than this.” Celine replied, voice calm and even. Rumi bit her tongue before she could say anything else, feeling guilty for letting her emotions show like that.
“I have explained to you why we cannot let the world know about… this. Your image and reputation will get dragged through the mud, Rumi. Is that what you want?” Celine continued as she looked at the idol — her eyes cold and hard. Rumi felt herself shrink back a little as she looked away.
“We don’t know that… Celine, we haven’t even tried” Rumi said, her voice soft and unsure — almost pleading. Celine sighed as she stepped around her desk, and placed a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.
“Rumi, everything I do. I do it for you. To protect you. The world is cruel and I have shielded you from it all your life, because I promised your mother I would. What would she think, hmm? I need you to keep trusting me in this. You trust me right, Rumi?” Celine said. Her tone might have seemed soft to onlookers but Rumi knew better; she could still feel the sharpness. Rumi looked down at her hands and fiddled with the sleeves of her jacket. She felt the prickling on her shoulders and down to her arms as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Yes, Celine.”
Rumi entered her penthouse. She felt exhausted with the meeting and just wanted to get out of her clothes and take a long shower. She peeled off her jacket and threw it against the back of the couch. She plopped down on it and let out a breath. She leaned back, putting pressure against her eyes and tried to stop the headache that was starting to form.
She could feel the weight sitting heavy in her chest as she remembered the meeting. Tears burned in the corners of her eyes, arms prickling with the ghost of a memory. She shook her head trying to get it to fade. The need to scratch at her arms pulsed like a dull ache at the back of her mind.
She looked down at them. The discoloration of the scars permanently etched on her skin. The proof of her sin. She wanted to get rid of them... but she couldn't. She needed them as a reminder... a reminder that she didn't deserve to forget.
She let out a huff as she finally got up, grabbed some clothes from her bedroom dresser and took a shower.
Half an hour later, she finally stepped out of the bathroom as she was wrapping her hair in a towel. She checked her phone since she had heard it ding while in the shower. A message from Celine’s assistant was there, letting her know that the gaming company had sent over the package; and it should arrive within the next hour or two.
Rumi replied in the affirmative as she took the time to order some food. She knew she needed to at least make sure she wouldn’t utterly embarrass herself at the exhibition, so she wanted to familiarize herself even just a little bit with the game. She ordered some kimbap and ramen from the restaurant near her place. While she waited for that, she checked over her emails on her phone and double checked her schedule. The only thing slotted was a late night photoshoot, so that bought her a few hours. Her food arrived a few minutes later and she sat down at her kitchen island, turned on her TV, and watched something mindless as she ate.
After she had finished and cleaned up the plates, her doorbell rang. It was another delivery man with a decently sized box in his hands. She signed for it and went straight to her home office.
She carefully placed the box on her desk and opened it. There was a smaller, sleek, black box inside; accompanied by another pair of even smaller boxes. She took all of them out. There was a card inside as well and she opened it.
Thank you, Ms. Rumi for your support in our campaign to help the LGBTQ youth of Korea. Please take this equipment as a gift from us to you. I hope you don’t mind but I have already downloaded the game onto the laptop and set up your account:
Username: RoyalRu
Password: ******
Please let me know if you have any questions about the game or just in general and I’ll be happy to assist you!
-Bobby
P.S. I hope it’s okay but here is my email for those questions :D
P.P.S. Your teammates have already been chosen. To help you familiarize yourself; their Hunters will be Andromeda, and Exalus. Be sure to check them out, and let me know which Hunter you will be playing.
P.P.P.S. In the game, the characters are called Hunters!
P.P.P.P.S. Good luck! :D
Rumi couldn’t help but smile. Bobby seemed really nice and a bit silly; she was going to enjoy working with him. She stared at the card again, and a different feeling rose up in her chest, as she thought about Celine.
I guess it’s fine to be an ally in your eyes, but God forbid I’m one of them.
She bit her lip and tried to quell the frustration she was feeling.
She turned her attention to the black box again as she put the card to the side. She opened it carefully and found a matte purple laptop. She took it out slowly and made sure she didn’t drop it as she placed it on her desk.
She opened up the smaller boxes and found a pair of purple headphones lined with dark pink undertones. She looked curiously at the cat ears sticking out from the top; they were cute, she had to admit. There was also a dark purple and blue wireless mouse in the other box. Even with her little knowledge of the equipment, she could tell they were of high quality — given the material and weight to them.
She set the laptop on her desk and plugged in the charger. She also plugged in the usb for the mouse and the cable for the headphones. She pressed the power button on the side and was fairly surprised at how fast it booted up.
She opened up the desktop with the default wallpaper and saw only one program installed. That must be it, she thought. Well... might as well see what she was in for. She clicked.
Aikon Ezera: The Hunt
Now Loading… Did you know? You can earn XP to level up!
She was brought to the sign-in screen. She grabbed the card from earlier and typed in the information. She winced a little at the loud music and took off the headphones. The game finally loaded in and it was too much information all at once.
She clicked around and tried to figure out what the buttons were for; she found the settings and was finally able to lower the volume enough that she could wear the headphones again. She continued to explore, and clicked the character list. It showed a lot of different characters — “Hunters” — and as she hovered over them, their names would pop up. She remembered the card again and found “Andromeda” she clicked and more information popped up.
Andromeda
Andromeda was a scout soldier with the Chronom Empire who got stranded on Planet Ezera with all contact severed. She fought her way through hordes of demons until she discovered a hidden civilization fighting back. Without any ability to call for aid or extract, Andromeda embraced this new community and vowed to protect it.
She hadn’t expected a full backstory for each character. She was surprised at how poignant it was. Rumi had never really quite understood the appeal of fiction. Mostly, she just didn't have the time, and investing into stories about people who didn’t exist seemed superfluous. But for some reason she felt sad for Andromeda; thinking that she wouldn’t find home again.
She wondered if her new teammate had chosen her for a reason — a kinship perhaps? She waved the thought away; this was just a game. They probably didn’t even really care for the story of it.
She navigated to the next Hunter from the card.
Exalus
Exalus was born to a political marriage between two rival houses. Exalus fights for the honour of each side of her family, but when The Demon War™️ comes to her corner of the galaxy, the terse peace between them crumbles and she's forced to choose a side. Instead of choosing either, she's branded as a traitor to both and abandons her high born duty in order to help the downtrodden across the war torn galaxy wherever she goes.
Rumi felt the sting of tears in her eyes as she read. A character torn between two sides of the same family. She did her best but fell short and now she would fight to help others to find her place. How was it that these characters were written so… human? Her thoughts drifted again to her other new teammate, she wondered if she felt the same strain as Exalus.
Rumi found herself doing this over and over. As she clicked on each Hunter, she would learn about them. She would end up mourning, laughing, or cheering for them. This was an entirely different world at her fingertips. Sometimes it was too much and she needed to step away from the laptop in contemplation. Other times she would huff in irritation when a character was egotistical and selfish.
And then she got to her. One of the final Hunters in the list.
“Usa.” She whispered as she clicked.
Usa
Usa was the child of an illicit affair between a noble elf and a demon deserter. Usa had never found a place to belong; she was forced to hide her demonic heritage. When The Demon War™️ broke out, she grappled with the inner turmoil of having to hide her demon patterns from the world that was only capable of seeing her one way, and having to protect the very system that would destroy her if the truth was revealed.
Her body froze as she read the description. Her throat constricted and she felt tears suddenly dampening her cheeks without her notice or permission. She put a hand up to touch her face and wiped them away as they continued to fall.
‘When did I start crying?’ She thought. She tried to focus on the screen through the stinging in her eyes even as her vision started to blur. She stared at the character art far too long. Definitely longer than she had the others. Her body tingled in a way she couldn’t quite place. She got up, feeling the need to move, walk around… something.
She placed a hand to her chest and tried to calm the fast beating of her heart. She took in deep breaths, her body buzzing.
“It’s just a character.” She muttered, as she walked back to her desk.
“Just a character…” She repeated as she put the headphones back on.
She clicked away and continued reading the rest of the character descriptions, but she found the last few didn’t really register anymore in her head as her eyes kept flicking back to Usa. She sat there for who knows how long, the faint background music of the game playing in her ears. Her hand lazily tracing over the keys.
“Usa…” She whispered, the name rolled around her tongue like a memory long forgotten. A small smile found its way on her lips. “I like that.” She said as her chest seemed to fill with determination she didn’t know she had.
She grabbed her phone and opened up the email app. She typed in Bobby’s email.
Hello Bobby,
I have received the laptop, thank you for your care.
I also wanted to let you know that as long as it does not cause any problems with cohesion in the team, I was hoping to play as Usa.
I am still familiarizing myself with the game, though I am unsure of how much time I will be able to devote to learning. I apologize in advance for any embarrassment I may cause the company due to my inexperience.
With the warmest regards,
Ryu Rumi
Sunlight Entertainment
She sent the email out and not even a minute later heard the ding of a reply and opened it.
Hello Ms Rumi!
Absolutely that’s okay!
Again this is for charity but first and foremost we want everyone to have fun!
Usa is a very interesting pick for a character and I'm excited to see how it turns out!
Thank you again for accepting our invitation to participate in this event and we are glad to have you with us!
Warm regards,
Yoon Robert
Polaris Games
She smiled at the reply and put her phone away. Okay let’s figure this out, she thought as she clicked all around trying to figure out how to actually play the game.
A sudden and loud voice made her almost jump out of her chair as it said, “MATCH FOUND!”
She was brought to the loading screen and not a second later to character select. The game waited for her to pick a ‘Hunter.’ She saw her two other teammates had already picked and so she scrolled down to find Usa and clicked to lock it. When she did, another loading screen popped up and the scene changed again. This time it seemed she was fully in the game, as when she clicked around she saw her character move from one place to another. She was looking around her screen, seeing a lot of different things she really had no idea how to even use.
A text box popped up in the bottom left of the screen and messages started coming in.
[Team]LucarioDice: OH COME ON! bro r u trolling????!
[Enemy]DominoUltra: daaamn an Usa. def a noob
[Enemy]RedLightGreenLight: LOL ez win
Rumi furrowed her brows in confusion. Did she do something wrong? More messages popped up seemingly making fun of her for picking Usa. She was clicking around again trying to figure out how to send her own message. It did nothing until she found the [press Enter to chat] prompt and so she did. The text box highlighted and she could finally type.
RoyalRu: Apologies, this is my first time playing a game. Did I do something wrong?
More messages came through; a mix of abbreviations and outright insults in differing colors of red and blue.
[Team]LucarioDice: im so sick of noobs playing the game before doing any research fml
Rumi was getting overwhelmed and honestly also scared over the hostility. Until another message. Her other teammate, she assumed, based on the message color.
[Team]TurtallyZoey: don’t mind them! They’re just being toxic for no reason. You’re totally fine! Usa is definitely interesting though. You said you’re new. Would you like some help?
Art by TechKai
