Chapter Text
There already was the distant sound of a ringing bell, that none stepped to conclude, especially when everyone, yes, everyone, was frozen in place. “What the fuck, is going on.” No, Soleum agreed deeply with Hoyun’s alarmed words. He would’ve exclaimed the same, had the random sounds and the bouts of dizziness not also left him partially mute with fear. He almost choked on his breath when he saw the elegant, but concerning appearance of the… deer, demihuman. Long lashes looming over pale skin, dark eyes that curled just enough for Soleum’s hairs on his arm to raised (he felt strangely reminded of Baek Saheon for a moment) and lips that stretched into a comfortable smile, which, when considered harder, Soleum could see the fakeness in it. Wow, this guy rivalled Baek Saheon in terms of fake niceness… no, anyways, the point was, someone who wasn’t here before had just popped into the office room, and Park Moondae seemed to have a whole ‘nother expression on his face, tail twitching and raising like it hadn’t done before.
[☆New Update!☆]
[Content to watch out for
-New potential events through shifts
-New Major Event during shifts 10+
-Rainy shifts available now!
-New skins, some limited
-■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■■■■■!]
The new window lit up loudly, with a sound like children's cheers taken as stock content from a website full of promotions, and colourful confetti which faded into nothingness as it flowed slowly, toward the ground. He looked back up, wondering if his sanity meter had dropped down to 5 (not 0, because he was very much still alive) and his eyes met the ones of the deer who was not Yutae. He looked back down, and pretended he hadn’t looked into those cold eyes. Somewhere in the room, Moondae spoke up. “How did you get here?”
Kim Iwol coughed, openly, and as Soleum looked back up, he noticed Hoyun nodding at the other bunny, before he – that is, Hoyun – spoke. “First of all, who are you..? Then answer Moondae’s question.” Soleum nodded, yeah, that was a reasonable question. He would’ve added his own input, but his throat had locked up, and he found himself too scared (nervous?) to speak.
The man, taller than Soleum by a few centimetres, lowered his gaze to look at Moondae, then looked back up as his gaze swept over the others. Soleum’s heart stuttered out of fear, make sure you remember, it was fear. When he spoke, it was smooth, with an upbeat note to it that didn’t match his.. Vibe, really. And trust Soleum, who had a well-honed danger-metre. “I’m Cheongryeo-”
“-Stage name?” Yutae mentioned, and Cheongryeo nodded. “Then tell us your real name, Cheongryeo-ssi.”
“Ah, I’ll say that one later, it’s not important.” The man, whose hair was a deep black, smiled with his eyes, letting them crinkle and curl as if trying to convey that he was harmless. Then, he continued. “And you all are?” Soleum would be stupid not to mention that the question was spoken with an incurious lilt- as if, whether there was an answer or not, he wouldn’t have cared to ask further.
A long silence dragged out in the air between everyone, Soleum caught Hoyun offering a dead-eyed stare before rolling his eyes, pretty openly, as Moondae sighed and spoke first, uniquely. “That’s Seo Hoyun, Kim Iwol, Seo Yutae, and Kim Soleum.” He seemed somewhat tired as he said that, ruffling his own hair roughly as his ears twitched irritably atop his head. Soleum looked away and his gaze landed on Iwol, who was fidgeting with his own fingers and then Yutae, who honestly looked like he’d aged 20 years. “And you didn’t answer my first question, did you?”
To that, Cheongryeo just smiled. It would’ve worked in avoiding the question, but it didn’t, for Soleum, at least. Moondae glared harder at Cheongryeo, and Soleum let a discreet step back, which somehow was loud enough for Cheongryeo to look over and stare down at him. If Soleum at least knew this guy beyond the fact that he was a part of VTIC (hey, even Soleum knew the name Cheongryeo) and that he felt a little similar to a dangerous liar, maybe he could’ve prepared a counter-persona or maybe even prepare himself to come face-to-face with an open lunatic but this guy was a virtual stranger. Putting this into perspective, Soleum had read over the DER for years, he knew Viper inside and out and he also had inferred and analysed certain characteristics. It helped in preparing himself for the first meeting, even if it was also a surprise first meeting.
But who the fuck was Cheongryeo?
Soleum would be stupid to try the Insane and Insane-er tactic again with someone who looked like he ate lunatics for breakfast.
Now, yes, he did say earlier that he knew Cheongryeo but knowing an Idol and knowing the person are two different things. Totally different. Maybe he was panicking just because Cheongryeo had been staring at him for what felt like a few hours, but eventually a large hand covered his eyes. Leaning back, Soleum noticed it was Yutae who’d blocked his line of sight. “Uhm, that wasn’t-”
“-Sorry, Soleum-ssi. I just thought you seemed uncomfortable.” Murmuring a brief thank-you, Soleum finally dragged his eyes away from the surgeon, to Cheongryeo again, in which he wasn’t looking at Soleum this time, but at Hoyun and Iwol, who stood next to each other as a pair of bunnies.
The other four were all locked in some debate at the same time as the newcoming deer was observing the two, and Moondae was questioning the unresponsive Cheongryeo. “Mm, fine, then how did you know to find me?”
“... You’ve been missing for 3 days, Moondae-ya.” Three days? Had Soleum heard correctly? He tilted his head, looked at the others who’d all shown some sort of reaction and swiftly concluded that yes, he had heard that right.
Similarly, as if hit by a hammer, Moondae stilled, eyes widening as he smiled, almost incredulously. “No, what do you mean?” Then, he paused and spoke again. “It couldn’t have been more than a few hours.”
A silence, then a firm voice. “It’s been 3 days since you disappeared.” Soleum watched, as in the next instant, Moondae reached and grabbed Cheongryeo’s arm, somewhat roughly, and dragged him out of the office to probably another room, which would be more private. Considering they were from the same world…
After a few long and awkward moments, Iwol spoke. “Could it be that each shift counts for a day? From the moment we appeared here, we were missing for one day, a shift passes, and another day passes right as the next shift begins?” Hoyun nodded slightly, and Yutae stepped away from Soleum slightly. To that, Soleum paused and finally walked to the NPC waiting to be registered – fairly impatiently, to be honest.
Can you speed it up a bit?
What’s taking so long?
When he finally pressed the stamp down, they’d finally silenced themselves, and Soleum could refocus on the actual topic. “The time flow would be inconsistent throughout, then. If that’s true, we can stay in a single shift for however long, and not a single second would pass in our own worlds.” Taking a breath, Soleum continued seconds later. “And we only know this for Moondae’s world, it could very well be different for each of us.”
*
[Name: Kim Soleum
Role: Secretary
*Benefit: Recover 1 Sanity when checking in patients.
Level: 1
Sanity: 53%
Cash: $196/Coins: 8
TIP: There is an NPC that may seem evil at first glance, but will help you if treated correctly!]