#chapter 1-5

Prelude

[Jubilife City, Sinnoh Region]

"Operator Cipher requested to be in the main lobby. Dr. Axiom wants to speak to you directly."

"Oh boy, what is it this time?" I thought to myself as I was running some errands around the city. It was Monday so the rush was expected but Axiom always liked his short notices. 

I had a stack of papers when I got the call. I was holding or rather ... levitating a bunch of reports. It was off to the main lobby I go. 

I stumbled upon the bright white lights of V.E.G.A. when I entered the building. The main lobby is always the first place you will see when you enter but even still, I never get tired of seeing it every day. 

"Morning Cipher! Doctor's pulling you in again?" Ava, the Rotom receptionist greeted me when she saw me enter. 

[Cipher]: "Yeah, you got it right. Got any ideas on what it would be? Could be anything for all I know." 

[Ava]: "No idea either, sorry. Although, I've been hearing a few reports of structural damage. Something ... or someone might have been vandalizing it seems." 

[Cipher]: "Hmm ... I might look into the reports when I'm done. Until then, duty calls." 

"Good luck ... as always." She sheepishly gave me a smirk just as I headed to Axiom's office, the papers I was carrying still floating around me. 

~~~

I had just made one knock on the door when Axiom bellowed from inside his office. 

[Axiom]: "Come in."

I instinctively opened the door, having no time to waste when I saw Axiom hunched over at his desk. He seemed to be looking intently at some papers before he looked up at me with a grunt. 

[Axiom]: "Oh good, you're here. Listen, I know you're the best man for the job that's why I sent you in on short notice. I need you to investigate something." Axiom subtly pushed what looked like a bunch of photos across the desk towards me. 

I raised an eyebrow as I quickly looked at what he wanted to show me- a bunch of broken shops with what looked like something red glowing on the cracks. 

"Strange ..." I muttered as I tried to look closer. "Anything else you got?"

"Pictures were taken last week. Dates appeared to be random." Axiom shrugged, it seemed like he was also in the dark about this.

"Right ... but the glow is kinda bothering me here. I've seen a broken building before but never a red light." I guess that was probably what Ava had been seeing as well. "So ... what do you want me to do?" 

[Axiom]: "I need you to investigate what's been happening. Attacks are usually by night time so you would need to patrol the area." 

[Cipher]: "But what about-" 

[Axiom]: "You don't have to do this alone. I assigned Operator Elaina and another one who needed experience in the field. Surely you can handle it right?" 

[Cipher]: "I guess. Do we start tonight?" 

[Axiom]: "Yes, the sooner you patrol, the sooner you can get to the bottom of this." 

[Cipher]: "Figured. Anything else?" 

[Axiom]: "If any threats arise while patrolling, let me know right away." 

It seems like it's going to be one of those all-nighters ...

Recently, I decided to indulge myself into re-reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and I am so loving the story telling and regency lingo.

 I’ve only read a few chapters, (since I’ve sworn to micro-analyze every single detail) but already having a few Aha! moments.

🥰 So far I'm loving the game.

😞 Not a big fan of the graphics, though. Customisation is not the best. Even when choose leanest body for male MC, the chest appears way too broad in outfits.

😍 LIs are interesting. We get 3 romanceable contestants from the first Inferno 1 (Gun-woo(M), Seo-jun(M), and Min-seo(F)), and 2 romanceable contestants from Inferno 2 (Kyoung-won(M) and Ji-hu(M).

My two favourite LIs are Gun-woo and Kyoung-won. Both are romantic, vulnerable and hurt. Both are looking for true love.

😻 LIs I've interacted with so far are Gun-woo, Ji-hu and Kyoung-won.

💪🏼 Gun-woo is my first LI. We met on Inferno 1 and chose each other to go on Paradise. He is a fitness trainer and life coach. He fell for me pretty fast. He's already talking about love. He's not comfortable with the idea of long distance relationship. He has 11 exes and is hoping that number 12 will be his lucky number.

I've got a full love meter for him.

🏍 Ji-hu is from Inferno 2. He came to wisk me away to Inferno 2 on his bike, driving us to the helicopter that was to take us there. He has a bad boy persona which he uses to keep people at arms length, but seems bent on getting closer to me. He can act quite immature, but when he's vulnerable, you can see that there's more to him than what meets the eye. He seems to have had his heart broken in the past but hasn't opened up about it yet. His bickering with Kyoung-won can drive anyone crazy.

Career wise, I think is either a musician or a stunt double. Time will tell.

💍 Kyoung-won doesn't speak much to anyone except from me. It turns out the bag that showed up on my Inferno instead of mine was his. The ring inside was the one he intended to give his fiancée who passed away, swept at sea three years ago while on holiday. His sister signed him up for the show, hoping it would help him move on and find love again. He is sweet, caring, well mannered, and generally level-headed, except when it comes to Ji-hu. We've gotten pretty close. I feel closer to him than to Gun-woo. I feel like we've had more quality time, and I feel like I somehow know him better than I know Gun-woo. I certainly know more about his back story.

He is my favourite LI, sorry Gun-woo.

Career wise, I think is could be a pro swimmer or a lifeguard.

📸 Dae-hyun is mega cute. It's a shame he's not romanceable. He's my bestie. He's an over attached puppy when it comes to Chae-won. It's a shame she can't see how amazing he is. He is mega sweet.

I think career wise, he is probably a model or an influencer.

🤡 My arch nemesis, Su-bin, used to be my bestie back in high school. Apparently, something happened during senior year. I supposedly hurt her, though she refused to tell exactly how I did it. I know that we both liked the same guy, and he chose me over her, but she claims that that isn't the issue. She's seems bent on revenge. She took Gun-woo to Paradise after I left. She tried to convince me that Gun-woo is flirting with everyone while I'm away. However, the sweet note I received from Gun-woo that his heart was with me in my inferno seems to contradict what she said. I'd take his words over hers. She's really ridiculous. She went for Gun-woo but he chose me. When she arrived on Inferno 2, she tried to get the boys' interest away from me, but that didn't work. They were soon bickering over me again. She tried to humiliate me with the story of how I got sick on the bus during a trip junior year and ended up having to wear an oversized t-shirt for the rest of the day. However, her little story back fired since Ji-hu spoke up and stood up for me, while Kyoung-won showed disapproval.

I hope to find out about what she holds against me soon so I can move on.

🤯 The two Infernos are merging today. That is going to be very interesting. Lots of drama, I expect. I'm actually dreading seeing Gun-woo again, especially since I decided to message Chae-won to tell her to give Dae-hyun a chance, rather than message Gun-woo to assure him of the steadiness of my feelings, because with Kyoung-won in the picture, I'm just not sure how steady my feelings for Gun-woo are.

😁 Overall, I'm really enjoying the game.

Later in the day, it seemed like most people had settled down without much going on. Everyone was off somewhere doing something to try to keep their minds off of the killing game and the situation we had been forced into.

“I wonder what I should do right about now...”

Normally, I’d spend my free time learning new things or playing chess. It wasn’t easy to do either trapped in a place like this, however. Well...actually...

“That’s it! I’ll go spend time with the others and make some friends! No one will even think about killing if we’re all friends!”

With a goal in mind, I set out to find some people to spend my time with. But I only had a limited choice with most people already in a group or in their rooms.

[Webby in the cafeteria]

[Yoshiko in the garden]

[Itsuki in the hallway]

[Mei in the kitchen]

[PREVIOUS]

When I made my way into the garden, I saw that Yoshiko had beaten me here already and was looking at the flowers again like when I met her.

“Yoshiko! Hello!”

“Well if it ain’t my favorite box! How are ya?”

“I’m doing okay, all things considered! But I want to make sure you’re okay.”

I went into the kitchen, thinking about getting something to temporarily top off my power supply, Mei was already there it seems, trying to figure out how the microwave worked.

“Come on! Why doesn’t this stupid thing have a sensor?!”

“I believe you’re meant to pull on the handle of the door.”

Without a word, Mei gives the handle a tug and the door pops open easily.

“..I already knew that. Just so you know.”

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