Unprompted, Axel sighed for an extended amount of time.

“That’s really a UX question. I’m more backend. But to answer you, it actually depends on the intent of the designer.”

Both Jye and I were silent. It seemed like the type of thing that someone would elaborate on regardless of further inquiry. Plus, it was Axel. Given the chance, he loved showing off his knowledge. I’d listened to his rants about how inefficient the workflow was at his company as well as his proposed solutions which he never submitted. Get him going and it was like witnessing a group conversation with only one speaker.

“If we assume that parties are the preferred playing status, we’d have reason to believe ‘Accept’ would be first as we read, so on the left.”

Jye nodded. “Left, got it, just a—”

“But,” Axel continued, “if we assumed that the system would rather have us players solo, then ‘Reject’ would be read first.”

The redhead’s brows furrowed. “Okay, so…The one on the right then?”

Hit with a sudden idea, I interrupted, “But what if the system takes into account the preferences of the player? Like, people in any number of those other countries with Gates surely don’t speak English. Which means their notifications must be written and spoken in their own languages. The system has to consider a player’s mental preference in some way.”

“So, you’re saying that depending on the player ‘Accept’ might be on the right or the left?” Axel asked.

Both our eyes swung over to Jye. “Would you say you’re an extrovert or an introvert?”

“Uh, neither?” Jye said.

“Well, that doesn’t help. Oh, what about… Axel you invite me, and then Jye you invite Axel.”

“Like some sort of party invitation orgy?” Jye asked.

I blinked. “I wouldn’t have phrased it like that, but sure.”

There was a brief exchange of invites and then a little screen pinged up in my peripheral vision. It reminded me of the friend invite notifications you got on Steam. Or God forbid, Epic. For a second I thought about all the friends I couldn’t contact online. I hoped they were doing okay. Well, half of them had moved outback, so they’d probably be fine.

The notification read: Party invite received from Axel.

Underneath the invite were the two options of Accept | Decline

I pointed to my screen. “Accept’s on the left for me.”

Axel said, “I think mine’s on the left?”

“You think?” I said.

“It’s— Uhhh… Really hard to make out. Probably something with Jye’s issues.”

Jye made a face. “My bad.”

Letting out a painful groan, I said, “Invite Axel to party.”

“For yours it’s on the left too.”

Unimpressed, Jye said, “Okay, so on the left. I’m glad we spent the last ten minutes figuring this out.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s better to find out this stuff before we go into a Gate. ‘Cause now you know with a yes and no prompt the affirmative response will be on the left. So, there’s that.”

“Do I accept your invite now then?”

Pondering for a moment, I replied, “No, actually can you invite me, Jye? I want to see what your notifications look like.”

They sent the invite, and this time the notification ping was the screech of metal scratching metal combined with nails on a chalkboard. I involuntarily shuddered and checked the written notification. Oh, Axel hadn’t been joking. This was near impossible to make out.

þ̶͈̟̼̥̀̆̽͌̿ͅ4̷̱͕̻͓̰͑̂̑͐̈́ŗ̴̤͓̜̞̋́̋̐̇7̵̢͈̳̞̟̈́͆̌̈̚¥̸̺̮͉͇̙̈́̓̈́͆́ ̸̧͖͖̱̝̒͋̀̎͝1̸̢̠̳̼̐̿̋͆̓ͅñ̷̡͈̦͕͎͂̉̈́́͒v̶̠̯͇̬͖̑͂̅̐̄1̴̢͓̩̥̝͆̄͗̽̚7̸̳̮͍͙̠͋̌̋͛͘3̵̡͚͓̯͓̾͋̏̌̚ ̸̞̲̖̦̮̐͛̊̏͠r̶̟͓̘͆͂́̈́͘͜͜3̸̼̥͉̹̝̀̀͛̄̀¢̴̢̭̞̳̱́͊̔̉͛3̸̗̩͔̯̎͗̔̒͌ͅ1̵̥̥̹͍͎̽̉̒͊͋v̸̭̟͇̞͕̉̎̇̾̓3̷͚͍͍̮̹̉̌̓̽͠Ð̶͓͈͎̼̤͆̂̀̊̚ ̷̠̘͉̮̣̀̊̅̀͘£̷̡̳̻͎̼͂͗̒̈̇r̵̛͚͖̱̠̽̃͌͠ͅ0̷͖̫͇̱̣̎͂̇̃͠m̵̖̙͙͓͒̇̓̓̎ͅ ̴̛̮̼̦͚̜͒͒̂͘4̸̠̺̦̫̜̿̔͌́̑l̸̲͚̻͙̞̑̐̀̏̈́3̴̹̹͍̙͑̏͐̓͝ͅẋ̶͙̲͖̠̱͌͒͆͋.̴̠̯̣̖̍̍̌͗͘͜

Followed by: 4̶̡̢̦̗̯̄̉̑̐͠¢̷̥̭̜̤̓̅̀̍̕ͅ¢̷̣̺͈͎̫́̽͆̎͂3̷̛͓̙̫̣̬͑̎̏͘þ̴̨̛͖̭̬̯̔̅̈́̕7̶̟̖̤̦̅̊̍̀͜͝ ̷̧̲̜̼͚̈́̋̊̚͝|̴̗̗̩̖̱̀͊͊̆̔ ̶̧̪͔̣͛̓͛̅̚͜Ð̵̡̧̨̻̖̀̈́̀̋́3̵͇̰̲̙̥̑̿͌͒͌¢̵̩̖̞̙̣̌̈́͝͝l̶̹̭̲̜̓͂̅͗̕͜1̴̦̟̪͔͚͊͐̒̑͂ñ̶̤̤̪̝̭͑͗͆͑̾3̴̨͇̝̜̹̌̓̇͂͐

If I squinted hard, I could barely read what appeared to be leetspeak, but glitched over. However, it was still legible to me and had been to Axel as well. Damn, I didn’t want to know what Jye’s actual notification writing looked like if they couldn’t read it at all.

“Now can I accept the damn invite? And also can I have another cup noodle?”

“Yes.”

Jye’s eyes sparkled. “Yes to…?”

“Yes to both.”

Another teeth gritting sound, courtesy of Jye’s fantastic error-ridden status, and I received the following confirmation notification: J̵̡̢̠͙͉̠͐̄̎̇͛͠4̵̱̳͎̦̳̖͂̀̐͛̑͗1̷͍̮͓͍̹̹̃̓̊̊͐͝ has joined your party. Register party name?

A party name? How quaint. A million options ran through my mind, ranging from absolutely cringe to the name of friend chat groups that only a select few would understand the inside jokes. Ah, well, I’m sure we could change it in the future anyway, like most game systems. I’d just go with whatever. As I looked over the rest of my future party, an idea formed in my head.

Party name registered.

“Axel, accept my invite too.”

A high-pitched ping alerted me to his acceptance. The confirmation read: Axel has joined your party. The thrill of pissing Axel off was building and I eagerly awaited his response to the party name. He was silent for a long time, and then he was right in front of me. His fucking [Swift Footed] trait. I didn’t have time to react as he grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt.

“Are you kidding me?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, eyes innocently wide.

“You registered our party as Just Friends?”

Jye, in the midst of making their next cup noodle, commented, “Jesus Christ, you guys have problems. I’m okay with the name, FYI.”

Laughing, even though I was choking a little, I pulled at Axel’s hands. “Come on, let go.” I echoed his previous words. “It’s just a joke.”

I’d been expecting him to get annoyed about the name, especially since it was digging at a long-term joke, but nothing like this. His grip on the collar of my shirt tightened, knuckles whitening. I added this to the list of weirdness about Axel, which was growing longer and longer by the minute. My feet began to lift from the ground, and I glanced down in concern. He was literally raising me off the floor.

“Damn, I’ll change it if you hate it that much.”

Like a switch had been flicked, he dropped his hands. My feet made full contact with the floor again. Through clenched teeth, he said, “You’re so predictable,” and then stepped back. Which was good because I hadn’t even realised how close he had been.

“Look, I’m changing it now.”

I focused on the party and a new screen appeared.

Just Friends Party | LVL 3

• Lee | LVL 1 | All-Rounder (Party Leader)

• Axel | LVL 1 | Combatant

• J̵̡̢̠͙͉̠͐̄̎̇͛͠4̵̱̳͎̦̳̖͂̀̐͛̑͗1̷͍̮͓͍̹̹̃̓̊̊͐͝ | LVL 1 | |̵̮̲̪͒̽͝|̷̶̵̶̡̡̡̩͚̹̙̖͈̺̘̏̊͑̈́̀̊͋̒͗̌̇̍͜|̵̤̜̟̽̏̂|̶̛̝̝̻͗̕4̷͍̗̭͛͘̕4̶̺̰̟͗͐͒|̵̺̘̀̒͗͜|̷͔̣̠͆̑̌2̵̹͇̜̇͒̔/̶̧͓͎͑́́|̴̴̢͍̭̙̮̜̊́͒͋͊̂(̷̸̧̨͍̺̬̥̂̍̀̊̄͝5̵̟͓̮͐̀͛|̵̛̬͇̼͊̀

It was nice to see that the party function worked correctly and even more useful that it tracked our classes and levels. Probably to make sure that we were aware of our separate levels. The level next to the party name was a little weird though. I’d never really seen that in a game before. Was that the sum of our levels? Not to mention that Jye’s class was completely unreadable. Putting those thoughts into the “think about later” box, whose lid wouldn’t shut now, I thought about changing the name of the party.

Bzzt.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Axel said, glaring at me.

“I— Uh…” I closed my eyes to concentrate, desperately pleading for the party name to change.

Bzzt. This time it was followed by a notification: Party names registered by party leader are permanent.

Smiling in what I hoped was an apologetic manner, I said, “I can’t change it.”

Jye finished their second instant noodle packet. “I’m good with the name, by the way. Just thought I’d reiterate that for clarification. Actually, I like the name. It’s cute. Like a sign outside a treehouse saying ‘Friends Only.’”

“So we’re stuck as ‘Just Friends’?” Axel asked, simmering.

“It could be worse. I nearly called us JALbait. You’re lucky you dodged that bullet.”

Both Jye and Axel groaned. A new sound beeped, similar to a vital signs monitor, from my menu window. Oh. My missing health point had regenerated. Curious, I glanced at my scalded hand and found the flesh unmarred though it tingled weirdly.

Well, at least that answered that.