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Chapter 979: Something Old, Something New

“Is everyone ready?” I asked, looking around at the people gathered around me. As usual, everyone was present, though this time there were even more people coming with us. Not just Tsubaki, Dana, and Lifre, but also Julia, Aznod, Alme, and even Ashley’s development team. Since I had already said that I would let her take her team to the meeting, she was taking me up on the offer to let them celebrate the creation of their first game.

“We’re ready.” Terra nodded her head with a grin. “Same plan as usual?”

I gave a small nod of confirmation, a small smile tugging at my lips. “That’s right.” There was something that we always had to take care of first in the meeting, which this time was completing the deal with Bellarose. Afterwards, it would be a date with Irena and the others. As for acquiring points… I would leave that to everyone else. To me, these meetings were a chance to get away, one that came only once a year. Worse, it was closer to a year and a half, if we went by normal time.

The glistening, golden door appeared along the nearby wall, slowly opening to allow us entry. I could feel that the world had already been paused, and knew that it would stay that way for the next ten Standard Days.

I led the way, walking through the gate and seeing the group of other Keepers already entering the Meeting space. Everyone had their own groups with them, and my own group looked at me for a long moment. With a smile, I gave a nod of my head, signaling to them that it was okay for them to leave. I had already set up the basic speech restrictions that would prevent them from accidentally revealing information about the world we come from.

“Alright, let’s go!” Aurivy shouted, one hand holding Julia’s arm as she rushed forward. Julia was in shock at all of the different races that she could see, and even the city that seemed to be manifesting nearby in response to their presence. “Oh, there are so many things that I want to show you, I can’t wait!”

Pulled back to attention by Aurivy’s enthusiasm, Julia couldn’t help but smile warmly, doing her best to keep up with the little goddess. “Alright, where do you want to go first?” She asked, not knowing where anything was in this new land.

Aurivy shrugged her shoulders. “No clue! That’s the best part of this place! Things just pop up!”

“Oh, oh! Can I join you two? If that’s okay, I mean. Don’t wanna get in the way of a date.” Another voice spoke up from beside them, and Aurivy turned her head to see Lifre running alongside them, a grin on her face.

Aurivy merely grinned back at her, shaking her head. “It’s fine, Lifre. How often do we get the chance to hang out like this? Any ideas for our first destination, then?”

“There’s this awesome maze place I went to last time. You can either work together or race each other, and it’s totally randomized. Like, you get different powers every time, and have to use those powers to figure out how to get through!”

Aurivy thought about Lifre’s suggestion for a moment, before shaking her head. “Let’s start Jules off a bit easier. This is her first time here, remember.”

Lifre blinked slowly, before giving a nod. “Oh, what about that one simulation game? Not Keeper Sim… I saw it last time I was here. You can set up a scenario, with a specific world and everything, and live out your own adventure!”

Aurivy blinked, nodding her head. “That could be cool. What do you think, Jules?” She asked, turning to look at the elf on her other side.

Julia, for her part, simply smiled. “Like you said, this is my first time here. If you think that would be fun, I’ll trust your judgment.”

Another grin grew on Aurivy’s face, and she nodded her head. “Alright! It’s not the best for earning points, but it’s really fun! Let’s get to it!” As she said that, she pulled Julia towards the game center that was appearing nearby.

“So, what would you like to do first?” Dana asked, looking over at Tsubaki as the two walked along. As the Keeper wanted to have his date with his wives, and Lifre ran off to join Aurivy, that left Tsubaki and Dana.

Tsubaki crossed her arms in front of herself, her brows creased in thought. She instinctively navigated her way through the crowd, avoiding anyone that was just about to bump into her despite the large open area. She was already familiar with that scene, as it meant that another Keeper had paid for someone to be tracked down during this meeting. “Let’s look for something new.”

Dana’s eyes widened at that, quickly nodding her head. “I was certain that you’d want to do another trial or something.”

At that thought, a small smile spread over Tsubaki’s face. “I can do that in my own time. It’s not often that we get to do something like this, so I would rather spend it doing something with you and the others. I wouldn’t want to pull you into my trials.”

Dana almost stumbled at that, before jumping up and hugging Tsubaki. “You’re the best! Okay, something new it is, then!”

Tsubaki had a warm look on her face as she led Dana through the streets of the meeting space, her eyes scanning over the area. She was looking for something that she hadn’t done before, which was… difficult. Between her previous visits to this realm, she had actually participated in many activities.

That was when Tsubaki’s eyes were drawn to an unfamiliar building that seemed to fade into view not far ahead of them, its black structure a stark contrast with the surrounding buildings. Moreover, everyone seemed to be passing it by as if it simply weren’t there. Tsubaki looked down at Dana, seeing an equally confused look in her eyes, before the duo walked towards the door of the building.

Tsubaki hesitated at the door, reading through the message and pursing her lips. She knew that the system was intelligent, so she grasped Dana’s hand gently and spoke up. “The two of us wish to enter together, is that possible?”

Tsubaki furrowed her brow, before Dana’s hand gripped her own a bit more firmly. “I’ll be the System Companion.” She said with a wide smile. “You be the Keeper. It’s more fitting for you, anyways.”

“What do you mean?” Tsubaki looked at Dana in confusion, only for her to giggle playfully.

“You spend so much time with the Keeper, and are his devoted servant… don’t you want to be able to see life from his perspective, so that you can better help him in the future?” Tsubaki’s eyes widened at Dana’s rather clear provocation. Still, she had a point. “Besides, if one of us is going to have her memories messed with, I have more experience there, so it won’t be as hard on me. You be the best Keeper that you can be, and I’ll be here to help you.”

Tsubaki hesitated, before nodding her head in agreement. She tightly held Dana’s hand, and then passed through the door. “We’ve decided.”

Tsubaki’s vision spun, finding herself in an endless, gray mist. For a moment, she thought she might have died somehow, as this scene reminded her of her trips to the Underworld. Even before the system prompted her, she had managed to reconstruct her body, looking around. “Where is Dana?” She asked, her brow furrowed.

With the system’s reminder, she made the selection, and Dana appeared next to her. Her eyes blinked in confusion, looking around. “Wait, isn’t this--oh, no, this is the Admin Room. Wait, this feels weird. Give me a second, I know things… Wow, I can’t even say what I know? Okay, this is freaky. It’ll definitely take some getting used to.” Dana shook her head, blinking rapidly.

Afterwards, she turned to look at Tsubaki. “I’m assuming that I don’t need to tell you how to set up the Admin Room, right?” She asked, and Tsubaki nodded her head. In a moment, the gray mist receded, turning into a stone structure that Dana found rather familiar.

“The Sky Citadel, huh?” She asked with a grin. “Oh, by the way. Your Keeper title is Tsubaki here. I don’t know why it didn’t give you EarthForceOne like Dale, but it just gave you your name. You’ll be interacting with other Keepers throughout this trial, though they will be simulations created by the system. Huh, I’m allowed to say that part? Neat.”

“Will there be any problems if it takes me more than one Standard year to complete the trial?” Tsubaki asked, though Dana shook her head.

“Nope, the system is prepared for that. You can’t go to the meeting unless you are a First Ranked Keeper, and that’s when this trial ends. You can visit the simulated Keepers’ Admin Rooms if you get invited, though. So! What type of world do you want to make?”

Tsubaki hesitated, suddenly not sure. “I had never really thought about that… can you show me the options?” She didn’t know what choices Dale had access to when creating worlds, so she didn’t really know where to begin when it came to something like this.

Dana simply chuckled, nodding quickly. “That’s what I’m here for, Tsuba!” With that, a series of windows all appeared in front of Tsubaki, detailing various different world types that she could choose from. To her dismay, Tsubaki found that she only had a small five hundred points to design her initial world, an amount that would not even purchase many of the additions that they had asked for from Dale in the past.

“I-I see.” She nodded her head, suddenly feeling as if their requests might have been excessive without realizing it. “Well… let’s go with a game world, since that’s something we already know…”