MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Earth, somewhere in Japan.

Within one of the outer prefectures making up its main city, a tall skyscraper could be seen, dwarfing almost every building within a kilometer around it. Near the topmost portion of the skyscraper was an office that had a wide view of the cityscape. At its center was a large desk made out of mahogany, where a woman in a sleek business suit could be seen looking through documents.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in," said the woman, causing the door to open as a young man made his way inside. Apologizing to the woman for the disturbance, he gradually made his way to where the woman was, giving to her the documents he had brought along.

"This is all of the information our company has gathered during the last few days, President." Though he was nervous, the young man did not dare to show it on the outside, maintaining a subservient posture as he waited for the response of the woman before him. "I hope it satisfies your curiosity."

"Whether or not it satisfies my curiosity will be something I'll find out on my own," replied the woman as she briefly nodded. Grabbing the documents the young man had brought with him, she began to flip through them one by one, a solemn expression covering his face.

However, after flipping through the documents for a while, her expression changed into that of ponderation as her eyes briefly widened in disbelief. "This is…"

Then, as if she had been possessed by some sort of devil, the woman continued to go through all of the documents, placing the entire thing on her desk as she closed her eyes. Eventually, she let out a low sigh as she slowly opened her eyes once more, faintly shaking her head as the information she had just read continued to linger in her mind.

"Good work, Kenji." Briefly glancing at the document the young man had brought, the woman soon shifted her attention to the former, giving him a faint smile. "With your work ethic, it won't take long for you to be promoted."

"For now, head back to work. I'll contact you when I have something else to request." At those words, a smile appeared on Kenji's face as he gave the woman a respectful half-bow. Then, after excusing himself, the young man left the room not long after, leaving the woman on her own once more.

Remaining seated for a bit longer, it was only when she was sure Kenji had left did the woman get up from her seat, letting out a long sigh as she stared out of the window behind her. Admiring the cityscape below her, she eventually asked herself, "Where could the Blackflower Company be located?"

At this question, her thoughts shifted back to what had happened almost a week ago.

During that time, the beta to a new True Immersion VRMMORPG had been released. Though a limited number of people had been specially chosen to enter it for the meantime, the entire event was still shared throughout the world. Because of that, the entire world had four days to look into the new game that was named Greater Beyond.

Whether it was the players that had been part of the beta or the people that had been watching the beta from the streams, all of them were at a loss for words at what Greater Beyond was capable of. Not only was everything incredibly lifelike, whether it was its graphics or its sensations, the fact that the passage of time was seven times slower within the game had astounded many of them.

To compare, the competing VRMMORPGs at the time only had a time dilation ratio of one to three, which was more than enough for many people. Then again, who would say no to a time dilation ratio that was more than twice as better than the previous?

With all of those elements, as well as the appearance of the five Leviathans of the VRMMORPG world, the game had generated a great amount of hype within those four days. Even though a few days had already passed since the beta was over, many people were still talking about the game. In fact, a cult-like following had even been created around the remaining time before the game's eventual public release.

"Over a month and a half still remains before it releases," muttered the young woman to herself, a hint of eagerness appearing on her face for a brief moment. Having experienced what it was like to be in the game firsthand thanks to the beta, her desire to play the game was far greater than the masses, even going so far as to contact the company behind Greater Beyond to get into the game earlier than the others.

Surprisingly, this woman was none other than the leader of Starry Night, the person that went under the alias Moonlight_Desire, Yuuna Takahashi.

"I wonder if the others have found traces of where the Blackflower Company is located?" Sporting a luscious head of pitch-black hair and irises as dark as the night sky, her appearance made her gave off the feeling that she was one's friendly neighbor of some sort.

Then again, her true personality was anything but, instead making one feel like she was the epitome of coldness, whether it be through her words or her demeanor.

"I should try and call Tianshen if he's found any leads." Taking in a few deep breaths while sorting out the thoughts in her mind, the woman returned to her desk before using her phone. Being the owner of the large conglomerate that the Starry Night gaming organization was a part of, it took a while for her to find the contact she wanted to call, placing her phone on her ear only after it connected.

"Hey there. What's made the great miss Takahashi call this lowly peasant?" Faintly chuckling, the man on the other side of the call initiated the conversation.

"Cut it out, Tianshen." Inwardly letting out a long sigh, Yuuna had a cold expression on her face as she responded in the same language as the man. "I'm here to ask if you've found any leads on the Blackflower Company."

"You're trying to find their leads as well?" replied Tianshen with slight surprise. "How's that going?"

"No luck," said Yuuna in response, subconsciously shaking her head. "You?"

At the question, Tianshen let out a low sigh. "No luck either. Do you think the other three would have already found leads on them?"

"With how our attempts turned out, probably not." Pondering over other ways they could obtain access to Greater Beyond early, the woman stood up from her seat before beginning to pace around the room. Eventually, after a bit more talking back and forth with Tianshen, an idea surfaced in her mind.

"Now that I think about it, there's one other method we haven't tried using yet," said Yuuna all of a sudden during the conversation, piquing Tianshen's interest.

"And what would that be?" Raising his eyebrow in curiosity, Tianshen waited for the other side to explain her thoughts, only to let out laughter not long after. "As expected from the owner of the Starry Night conglomerate."

"To think you'd suggest bribing them with money."

"Then again… it's not a bad idea."