Mr. Lee was dressed in an elegant cream three-piece suit with a cyan blue tie and a clean white shirt underneath. He sat with one leg folded over the other, exuding his usual regal demeanor, and even from a distance I could sense the air of nobility surrounding him. Amongst the celebrities and famous personalities, Mr. Lee's presence always commanded attention. Supposedly, he was considered one of the top three wealthiest men in Japan ever. What was most peculiar about Mr. Lee was his natural disposition to hardly spend his massive wealth.

For as long as we had known his family, he always behaved as if he cared little about money. I always found that difficult to understand since I imagined that the more money you earned, the more things you deserved to have…right?

My brows suddenly rose upon noticing a second face I was all too familiar with. Seated beside the stoic-looking Mr. Lee was a graceful figure I hadn't seen in quite a long time, but one who seemed to grow more beautiful as she gracefully aged. She always allowed her lavishly long blue hair to fall down her perfectly smooth crane-like neck. Ever since we were children, she said it was a preferred style.

Her skin was almost porcelain white, unblemished, and she had the most striking set of fiery orange eyes. I had been told long ago that her mother was a beautiful model from Europe, some even said she might have been a princess. Though I suspected she was a movie start or some kind of famous figure out there, nevertheless.

Was she my first-ever crush? I pondered in deep thought at times.

Whenever we bumped into each other, she always made me feel a strange sensation stirring in my stomach.

In the midst of my daydreams, unbeknownst to me, I had been absentmindedly staring in her direction for a while. , and almost as though she could sense my gaze the girl called Eunice slightly turned her head towards my direction. Our eyes almost certainly locked at that moment, sending a tidal wave of nerves crashing within my gut.

'Shit!'

Out of fear or... more likely, cowardice, I swiftly diverted my gaze elsewhere, hoping she hadn't just witnessed me embarrassing myself like that.

After a few minutes, I nervously turned my eyes back towards where she was seated. I could see her covering her little mouth with her perfect dainty hands, softly laughing at something.

I couldn't help but wonder if I had inadvertently provided her with some unintended comedic entertainment.

Note to self: work on maintaining composure in the presence of potential childhood crushes. I noted internally

In a sudden turn of events, she locks eyes with me again, and before I can summon my best suave response, she unabashedly waves her hand with a cheerful smile lighting up her pretty face. My innards decide this is the perfect time for an impromptu tussle, twisting and tensing up in ways I never thought possible. In my well-practiced routine of awkwardness, I manage to pull off an ugly smile and faintly wave back to her.

'Yep, I almost certainly look like an idiot right now.'

"Hahaha—you're genuinely helpless, aren't you?" Ringo chimed in with hysterical laughter beside me.

"Grrr, shut it!" I growled under my breath, feeling my cheeks warm from embarrassment.

I even noticed a few of the guests seated beside me trying their best to keep themselves from laughing.

"Ahahah-hahaha. No! nom-nom-nom You should realize you're way out of your league trying to taste swan meat…gulp How courageous of you, my dear brother. You know what they say...the worlds likes a tryer aha"

I narrowed my brows in disgust as I heard her spout nonsense with a mouth full of rice balls.

"What web novel did you scrape that out from? And no one's attempting to taste…sw-swan meat," I forced myself to say. Ringo just shrugged in response, way too engrossed in the mountain of food on her plate to care about anything else.

Seriously though, where is she stashing all that food? I wondered in slight concern.

"Oh, look, look, it's starting," chimed a voice not too far away from us.

"Gulp Finally…wonder if Mom will grace us with a speech. You know, the kind that makes you want to hide behind your seat?" Ringo quipped as a matter of fact whilst wiping her mouth.

Truth be told, she wasn't exaggerating; Mom's speeches were like a rollercoaster of awkwardness.

Her true talent lay in orchestrating events from the shadows, not hogging the limelight.

I still vividly recall the cringe-fest that was my birthday party speeches.

Nervous shivers started crawling up my spine. The idea of Mom taking the stage in front of this fancy crowd? Bad idea. I secretly hoped for her sake that the universe had other plans.

Finally, the stage lights started to dim around us.

A gust of artificial smoke hissed onto the stage, emerging from two large nozzles that had secretly risen from moving flaps against the floor. A wave of gasps filled the hall from the surrounding onlookers, followed by a slow chorus of ahhs and soft applause. Then, a light show flickered across the stage. Squinting my eyes slightly, I soon noticed a silhouette slowly unearthing itself from within the hazy white mist.

Surprisingly, an eccentric-looking man appeared before us. He was clothed entirely in white, from his jacket down to his fitted flare trousers adorned with countless tassels, each ending in tiny hoops that bounced and jingled whilst he walked. He also wore a loose, violet-colored shirt with the top buttons audaciously undone, and his purple hair was tied into a sleek ponytail. Covering his gaze were expensive-looking, orange-tinted glasses.

He held a mic in his hand and wore a charming smile, radiating confidence. There was a brief pause while he scanned the hall. My brows slightly arched noticing his gaze waver slightly as it passed over the area where I was seated. I strangely could've sworn he...glared at me just then but his boyish smile quickly resurfaced dispersing whatever conspiracies I held in place.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu! Haha—welcome-welcome, all you lovely folk who have traveled a great distance to be here today. And I'd like to welcome you to the greatest day of your entire lives—hahaha—doubt my words? Well, let's begin today's presentation and see for ourselves. Behold!" he announced enthatically.

He spread his arms ceremonially and almost on cue, a large, pixelated screen appeared behind him like magic. Most of us were accustomed to this kind of technology, of course, but he still received gentle applause for his theatrics.

On the screen, I saw half a dozen blue artificial globes being formed, dotted with glowing red triangles. The globes were shaped like the world we all knew well, but a closer inspection revealed them to be completely different from the images of Earth I had seen during my lifetime.

As one of the beta testers, I quickly recognized the familiar structures of V9, realizing just how vast the scope of the open world was. I had only just begun to grasp the true scale of this project.

Before my curious gaze, I witnessed the births of countless floating spheres, resembling a bluish artificial globe adorned with glowing red triangles and glittering golden lakes that seemed to dance across its surface.

The continents were rearranged differently from the usual Earth, but my extensive time spent in the V series' latest beta release allowed me to recognize some of the geography. Despite my choice to play without a map, I had glimpsed simplified versions of these made-up countries on the walls of local taverns and guilds. During those early play throughs there wasn't a lot to go on, considering most of world had been unexplored.

While I observed the holographic models swaying to the whims of the eccentrically dressed presenter, I tuned in and out during his presentation, only catching fragments of the hosts name 'Koby Habuwasky.'

Who continued delivering his pitch with high enthusiasm and infectious wit.

"We have finally made groundbreaking strides in our pledge to create a fully immersive AI world. The V9 system, unlike its predecessors, addresses the criticisms and limitations of the past. Instead of being confined to a single continent, this open world has been meticulously crafted from the ground up.

Players will spend days, even months, or years exploring this vast and unpredictable landscape. Our beta testers and programmers have delved into this world, ensuring it's not only safe but adheres to the SCP's guidelines. Our companies have collaborated closely over the last decade to revolutionize how gaming and real-life simulations are handled," he described flamboyantly.

I couldn't help but notice a certain allure in the way he painted V9, a charm that somehow even managed to captivate someone like myself—a seasoned explorer with over 1000 hours etched into the annals of the V series.

Reflecting on my personal experiences beyond the V series games, it's been a peculiar journey. It often feels like a pilgrimage of sorts, where each hour invested might bring me closer to gaming enlightenment or, perhaps, sheer masochism.

I'm frequently compelled to escape mind-numbing quests that occasionally spiral so far out of control that I'm left with no choice but to abandon my endeavor or embark on a rampage until I'm either killed or kill enough to trigger a change within the game.

As I reflect on this digital odyssey, I realize that somewhere along the line, my gaming escapades transformed into a peculiar sort of self-flagellation. The hours stacked up like a tower of achievements, yet the joy, the genuine thrill that initially sparked my love for the V series, became elusive, a distant memory in the pixelated fog of countless quests. When was the last time I genuinely reveled in the magic of the V series games? The answer, like a fleeting ghost, eludes me still.

As the presentation continued, I found all the new features I was hearing to be intriguing. The constraints of V7 had become apparent after its global release, particularly the in-game player limitations and the gradual monotony that set in after completing most main quests. At first, I wasn't surprised by this. The V series was initially designed to explore whether humanity could create a world where issues like natural disasters, diseases, famine, and wars could be solved before manifesting in reality. It wasn't until V5's release, introducing a role-playing simulation, that the series underwent a groundbreaking shift and attracted a whole new generation of consumers, like myself... The Gamers.

My mother, a research analyst in biochemistry and other fields, played a crucial role in the collaboration between her companies, NGOs, and billionaire tech giants, giving birth to the SCP Global Zaibatsu, a behemoth among conglomerates in this new age of tech and science.

As the presenter's palms met in a resounding clap, the mesmerizing holographic light show shattered into a cascade of minuscule particles, marking the concluding act and the grand finale of the presentation. Shielding my eyes, I winced at the abrupt transition from the cloak of darkness to the gentle embrace of light.

Not long afterward, the hall was swiftly filled with a chorus of applause, followed by a flurry of raised hands. Most of these individuals were seated in the front row, right in front of the stage. They were mostly paid reporters from major broadcasting networks, equipped with iPads and small microphones.

"Ah-ha, one at a time now—one at a time... Let's see then, hmm... Yes, you there—the beautiful woman with the hairpin," he said.

"Thank you for choosing to answer my question, Mr. Habuwasky. Can we expect pushback on some of the implemented features from world organizations? With the expansion of the world, do you expect other countries to feel... threatened by what this could mean for how we access and move data?" the reporter asked.

Habuwasky's response, delivered with nonchalant confidence, reverberated through the hall. "Oh, of course. But that's why we allocate billions of yen to the most formidable legal minds in this fair land. We've assured the global governing bodies that V9 shall snugly fit within the hallowed guidelines drawn up by the UN and our allies. Anyone lagging behind the times may find it a tad... challenging."

A subtle smirk etched across his face, a ripple that stirred whispers and mutters among the gathered multitude. The air crackled with a sense of intrigue, as if a spark had been lit in the taboo void where all of the V series controversies were kept.