"Hah!"

  A cascade of golden light poured down from above Kiriya's head. He'd leveled up again, finally hitting Level 18!

  He pulled up the leaderboard at once, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he scanned the rankings. At Level 18, he'd shot all the way up to 83rd place among all players in the Azure Imperial Region!

  The top spot was still held by the female mage MoonYuki, who'd already reached Level 20 and was clinging firmly to first place. Every other player in the top ranks was male, not that Kiriya paid much mind to that.

  "Finally made it into the top 100. Today's goal is officially in the bag," Kiriya muttered to himself, riding a wave of pure elation.

  He then turned his attention to the Glimmering Leather Armor from his quest reward. This piece required no appraisal; its full stats displayed clearly right away.

  [Glimmering Leather Armor] (Bronze-Tier · Leather Armor)

  Defense: 37

  Agility: +6

  Stamina: +4

  Required Level: 18

  "Not bad at all," Kiriya thought to himself with quiet approval. The defense stats on this bronze leather armor were exceptional, exactly what he'd been desperate for at this stage of the game.

  He eagerly equipped the Glimmering Leather Armor at once, and in an instant, his defense stat skyrocketed to 84 points, a good chunk higher than the vast majority of Knights at this stage of the game.

  Even the Blue-Eyed Scaled Lizards in the Shallow Water Marsh would struggle to break through his defenses now, let alone average small mobs. Of course, the Blue-Eyed Scaled Lizards were monsters famed first and foremost for their absurdly high defense.

  Kiriya opened his inventory for a quick look. He'd started with 18 gold coins in his bag, and after a full night of relentless farming on Blue-Eyed Scaled Lizards, that number had climbed to 33 gold.

  That sum was more than enough to cover the in-game task the company had assigned him. What was left over, he could convert into cash to cover some of his daily living expenses.

  Once he'd double-checked everything was in order, Kiriya walked to the safe zone at the edge of the forest and selected the log out option.

  After pulling off his Mind Gear gaming headset, he realized he was completely soaked through with sweat from how intensely he'd been focused.

  He bolted straight for the bathroom to take a cold shower, stuffed a few pieces of bread into his mouth haphazardly, chugged a glass of hot water, set his alarm for eight o'clock, then collapsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

  ...

  He didn't know how long he'd been asleep when a shrill alarm jolted Kiriya awake.

  He frowned in irritation. Being ripped out of a deep sleep was miserable, but he didn't dare linger in bed. Showing up late on his second day of work was the last thing he needed.

  Kiriya sat up, rubbing the sleep from his bleary eyes. But the moment he opened them, a line of pale blue, semi-transparent game stat panels popped up out of nowhere, hovering and glowing brightly in mid-air!

  He jolted in shock, instantly snapped most of the way awake. But before he could make out the text on the panels, they vanished like a mirage, gone completely without a trace.

  Kiriya rubbed his eyes, muttering to himself. "Weird… must've stayed up too late gaming last night. I'm seeing things." He shook his head, brushing the bizarre sight off and putting it out of his mind.

  He shot out of bed, washed up quickly, then hurried out the door and headed for the studio. The morning streets were packed with people, all rushing about their day.

  It was nearly nine o'clock by the time he reached the studio. Kiriya rushed to clock in, sat down at his desk, pulled out a dry piece of bread, and scarfed it down in a few bites.

  Not long after, the other four women in the office filed in one after another.

  Mira was carrying a small crossbody bag. She sat down on the couch, looked up at Kiriya, and smiled softly. "Hey Kiriya, how was your grind in Eternal Art Online last night? What level are you at now?"

  Kiriya smiled. "Not too bad. I already picked my class."

  "Oh? What class did you pick?"

  "Archer."

  Mira's eyes lit up, and she grinned. "Nice! That means we've got two Archers here at SnowMoon Studio now, you and Rainie. I went with Swordsman. Oh, Summer, what class did you advance to?"

  Stolen story; please report.

  Summer was wearing a loose-fitting dress suit. She plopped down right next to Kiriya, her thigh nearly brushing his. She giggled, her tone bright and breezy. "I went, Summoner! I can already summon a Level 10 Forest Wolf pup!"

  Kiriya froze for a split second. Summer's top was loose enough to leave little to the imagination, but she didn't seem to care at all. She even slung one fair arm over his shoulder playfully, teasing him with a grin. "Hey, Kiriya, want me to carry you through leveling? If you do, maybe you should give me your contact info?"

  Kiriya's face turned bright red in an instant. He'd never been this close to a girl in his entire life, and he was so flustered he couldn't get a single word out.

  Watching him fumble awkwardly, Mira shot Summer an annoyed glare. "Watch yourself. Don't scare Kiriya off on his first real day here. We've got plenty of time. What's your rush?"

  Kiriya scratched his head in confusion. "The way you guys are talking… it sounds like I'm some little critter you're fattening up in a pen or something."

  Summer smiled behind her hand. "Of course not! SnowMoon Studio is the most tight-knit team there is. If anyone even tries to mess with you, I'll be the first to step up for you!"

  Kiriya was at a loss for words. For a fresh Summoner who'd just finished her class advancement, she sure talked a big game.

  Just then, Petalia walked over carrying a few cups of herbal tea, her voice soft and warm. "Come on, everyone. You all stayed up all night grinding levels, have some herbal tea to cool down."

  Kiriya nodded, quickly and subtly shifting his body to the left to give Summer space to sit fully back on the couch.

  He asked casually, "Summer, don't you have a boyfriend?"

  Summer smiled, her expression carefree and unapologetic. "I did, but the guy kept pushing to take things further, kept bugging me to go to a hotel with him. I dumped his ass straight away to protect myself."

  Kiriya was stunned by her bluntness, thinking to himself that this girl really was bold and one of a kind.

  Mira picked up a bottle of herbal tea and took a sip, then changed the subject. "Oh, right, how's everyone doing on the gold task the company assigned? Did you all get the two gold coins together?"

  Rainie nodded softly. "Yeah, I farmed just enough to hit two gold coins last night."

  Petalia sighed in frustration. "I only got 12 silver coins…"

  Summer just threw her hands up. "I've only got 2 silver coins. I don't even have enough to buy potions."

  Mira's face fell into exasperation, and she turned to look at Kiriya. "What about you, Kiriya?"

  Kiriya smiled. "Got a friend to help me out with some. Just barely scraped together enough."

  Mira immediately turned to the other three, singing Kiriya's praises. "See this? Look how responsible Kiriya is. Why can't you all be like this? You've only been in the studio a few days, and you're already slacking off!"

  Kiriya smiled, then turned on the company-issued computer and logged into the official Eternal Art Online website to check the leaderboards.

  The female mage MoonYuki still sat firmly at the top of the level leaderboard at Level 22. And the Bow of Glory in his possession still held the number one spot on the equipment leaderboard, unshakable by anyone.

  Mira and the others immediately crowded around, gasping in awe as they stared at the rankings. "This MoonYuki is insane. I checked her online status when I woke up this morning, and she'd barely just logged off. I'm so curious what she's really like…"

  Rainie frowned. "A high level is one thing, she could just be having other people whittle mobs down for her to last hit. But have you seen that silver-tier longbow at the top of the equipment leaderboard? It's absolutely broken. Someone actually got a silver-tier item this early after launch? I haven't even gotten my hands on a single bronze piece yet!"

  Petalia sighed. "You're lucky. I farmed all night and only got an iron-tier axe. I wouldn't even have hit Level 15 without it."

  Just then, Summer spoke up suddenly. "Oh, right, when I came in earlier, I saw the director's office door was locked. Looks like the director hasn't come in to work yet!"

  Kiriya's interest was piqued, and he asked, feigning confusion. "Who's the director?"

  Summer immediately broke into a suggestive grin, waggling her eyebrows at him. "Our director is a total bombshell, Kiriya. You'd better keep your cool when you meet her later!"

  Kiriya made a guess right away. Could it be Lina? It had to be her. Who else would have the authority to get him placed in the development department, and who else could afford a BMW?

  Summer patted him on the shoulder. "You haven't been assigned any specific tasks yet. Just browse the web for now, and we'll get you set up with work once the director gets here."

  Kiriya nodded in agreement. "Got it."

  He spent the rest of the morning browsing the official Eternal Art Online website and player forums. It was nearly noon when Summer walked over and patted him on the back. "Kiriya, head to the director's office. She wants to see you!"

  A faint flutter of nerves settled in Kiriya's chest. He stood up and walked toward the director's office at the end of the office hallway.

  Knock knock. He rapped gently on the door.

  "Come in."

  A soft female voice came from inside the office, nearly identical to Lina's!

  Kiriya pushed the door open and stepped inside. Sure enough, behind the large desk sat a beautiful figure, her head bowed as she focused on writing something, long hair falling over her chest, her demeanor gentle and refined.

  Roughly ten seconds later, the figure finally looked up.

  Kiriya froze. That silvery-white hair, those soft red lips, those bright, lively eyes. It was unmistakably Lina.

  She looked at Kiriya, her tone flat and neutral. "You're Kiriya?"

  Kiriya stared at her in shock. Had she really not recognized him after just one day? He spoke quickly. "Lina, I had no idea you worked here…"

  But the woman in front of him suddenly furrowed her brows, her tone turning icy cold in an instant. "I'm not Lina. Look closely! I'm Yukina!"

  "What? Yukina!?"

  Kiriya stood frozen in place, unable to get a single word out for a long moment. Could it be the person on the other end of the line when he'd answered Lina's call that day was her older sister Yukina? They were twin sisters!

  Yukina shot him a sharp glance and let out a cold huff. "If Lina hadn't begged me nonstop to hire you for the studio, I never would have taken you on. And you had the nerve to hang up on me, no less!"

  Kiriya's stomach flipped. If he was going to be working under Yukina from now on, was he going to be stuck dealing with her wrath every single day?

  A flicker of exhaustion crossed Yukina's face, and she waved a hand dismissively. "Lina's still in Eternal Art Online grinding levels right now because of you. As for you, you stay at SnowMoon Studio and level up properly. Don't you dare mess with the other girls, they're top talent the company paid a fortune to poach."

  "...Understood." Kiriya nodded quickly.

  Yukina gave a small nod. "Good. Now get out. I want to get some more sleep."

  Kiriya blinked in surprise. "More sleep?"

  Yukina's cheeks flushed faintly, and she pressed her lips together awkwardly. "Go on, get out of here. Stop nagging."

  Kiriya hurried out of the office, closing the door softly behind him. Through the crack in the door, he watched Yukina smooth down her hair, then rest her head on the desk to catch a quick nap.