Harumi had just turned the hotel TV off when her phone beeped.
New Line message? she thought. It was on her "work" phone, so it was probably a potential client. She opened up the message.
Harumi-tan~
Hello~ You are QUITE the hard worker. Living by yourself? How can I not feel for you? Oh, I wish I could take care of you! Well, I probably could, but I doubt you would stand for that would you? No, likely not! Anyways, you have a good number of interesting results in your history, you know? The meltdown of that especially famous couple? Oof, priceless! With that in mind, we of Jormungundr would love to count you amongst our ranks! Would you like to join us?
Now, should you agree, come to Akiba. There's this small net/EDEN cafe called "Net Sheep Cafe". You can figure out where exactly. When you get there, use the attached barcode and you'll get some free usage there. It's a safe place, guaranteed by yours truly. Security is top notch and if you happen to get hacked, it's your money back. When you get into the system, check your Digivice and you'll receive a URL to go to. We'll meet there.
Harumi frowned. People knowing her handle, and what said handle was responsible for, wasn't an issue. It was knowing her name that had her concerned.
And "Harumi-tan"? Who the fu—?"Jormungandr?" Harumi breathed. She let out a low whistle. So the whispers from Anon on 42channel had a kernel of truth. They were still around. Harumi bit the inside of her cheek, a habit when she was thinking. The girl typed her reply:
I'll sleep on it.
Harumi shut the phone off before crawling under her blanket and shutting the light off.
Two days passed before Harumi made up her mind. Now she was in Akiba, standing outside the Net Sheep Cafe. How many of these net cafes had she slept in? She was probably going to have to again if she couldn't get another job soon. Harumi took a breath and stepped inside.
The inside was nice and comfy. However, the cashier was quite the prettyboy. What made Harumi nervous was that he focused on her almost as soon as Harumi walked through the door. "Welcome to Net Sheep Cafe! How may I help you?"
"I, uh, received a summons," Harumi answered, bashful.
"Oh, one of the special customers! There's a private cubicle reserved for you. You'll see your name on the door."
"Th-Thanks." Harumi made her way in the direction the young man indicated, finding a private cubicle with a paper taped to the door with her name on it. Inside was a nice long chair and a VR headset. She set her bag down, got comfortable, slipped the VR headset on, and let her mind be transported away.
Harumi woke in her in-game house. It was nothing fancy, just something one could buy with the basic currency earned in-game. Her mailbox was empty, save for the automated notices about events and login bonuses. She rarely read the former, but she took the latter. As soon as she cleared it out a new message popped up. Given the URL attached, it was probably the place she was supposed to go. Harumi took a breath, clicked the link, and was whisked away to another part of cyberspace.
When she could see again, she was in an elaborate room, like a cathedral. She'd only been in one once, when she'd crashed for a night in one when she was out of cash, but it was undeniably like an old, gothic church. A quick scan revealed that she wasn't alone. Off to one side was another girl, presumably around Harumi's age.
So I wasn't the only one Jormungandr contacted, thought Harumi.
Of course not. You're not that special. Others are just as good as you.
Banned
