“My dad said he’ll take my games away if I don’t listen to him.”

“And what if he did?”

“Then I’d hate him forever.”

“I’m sick of that.”

Minatozaki Sana had to drift her stare from the window, to the voice. She saw Myoui Mina, sitting on her working desk, as usual, finger pointing at another window which Sana wasn’t looking at. Sana walked closer to it, and understood Mina was actually pointing at the super huge LED screen outside the office.

Welcome to The Constraint.

“What?” Sana turned to Mina, confused of what the young billionaire meant.

“Welcome to The Constraint, welcome to The Constraint,” Mina mumbled, grumpily imitating the girl doing the advertisement, “I’m so sick of hearing it.”

Sana’s shoulders sagged. She just smiled seeing her best friend.

It was just their usual morning when Sana was being chill and Mina being grumpy. Well, Sana didn’t expect more of Mina after some flights back and forth from Seoul to this island. It was actually good Mina wasn’t randomly throwing tantrums here and there like she usually did when she was dead tired.

They were the CEOs of a very, very huge gaming company but that didn’t stop Sana from being what she was instead of turning like her dark, grumpy best friend. Mina indeed wasn’t the most cheerful person on earth, but she literally, literally couldn’t chill. She wouldn’t stop working. Sana didn’t even remember when the last time she saw Mina’s smile was.

But she was used to it. Myoui Mina was a very important person. She understood.

“Why?” Sana asked again, turning back her attention to the LED screen, “Isn’t that our…. I don’t know, slogan, since forever?”

“Exactly. It’s super boring and definitely can’t attract more people, so change it. Change the model too. She .”

Another day, another out-of-the-blue order from Mina. Sana chuckled.

“We can’t.” She said, walking to Mina who was still busy with tons of papers on her working desk, “We just started the contract with her last year, which means, still a year to go. Besides, do you really think slogans and models are still that important for us? People still come to us to the play the game, don’t they?”

Mina sighed as Sana bent down to hug her, wrapping her arms around her neck from behind, something Mina didn’t really like about Sana, her clingy side.

“Also, the model is very pretty. Don’t you like pretty girls?”

“It was you who chose her, not me. And she knew basically nothing about gaming.”

Sana chortled, “Please. We don’t need some gaming experts for models. They just promote, they don’t play. And you let me choose too back then so don’t blame me.”

Mina rolled her eyes, “Whatever. How about Six-Two?”

Sana sighed and slightly ruffled Mina’s hair, earning a hateful groan from the latter, “Stop calling them like that. They have names for you to remember. There are only twenty-five of them and you can’t even spare time to memorize their names.”

“I made codes for a reason, Sana. I don’t care about their names.” Mina gritted her teeth, “How’s Six-Two?”

The blonde CEO stood up straight and took some random papers to read as she answered, “She resigned. She didn’t change her mind.”

Mina looked up, obviously pissed, “What the-- but we already--”

“Shush, listen to me first.” Sana quickly put a finger on Mina’s lips, “She decided to resign because she said she couldn’t do it any longer and she wanted to have a normal life with a normal job. Her contract was indeed up already and she refused the extra payment you offered her so she wouldn’t resign. We could do nothing about it, Mina. We should respect her decision.”

“No, we should just take her--”

“We already found a replacement.” Sana cut her off again, sighing at how careless Mina was toward their Workers, “So you don’t have to worry.”

Mina still looked skeptical, “A female?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Is she capable?”

A shrug, “She passed the test.”

“Passing the test isn’t everything Sana, the tournament is in five months--”

“Exactly.” Sana bent down, “It’s still five months away. So stop being so doubtful of me this time. I’m on your side. Instead of letting the spot of Six-Two empty, I found a replacement and have her trained. Can we just stop at that? Things are actually okay, it’s just you who thinks too much.”

“You’re not on my side, you let Six-Two resign.” Mina turned her attention back to her working desk, “Do you think being a Character is easy? Five months of training isn’t going to guarantee her safety. How if--”

“Now you’re talking about their safety, huh? I didn’t know you cared. I thought it’s just their job, it’s no big deal, no? I think you should’ve said their performance instead.”

Mina opened to argue, but Sana was right.

“Whatever you say. I want to meet her after this.”

Sana smiled and put her chin on Mina’s shoulder, “Sure. After lunch. Don’t forget to eat or I’ll feed you, Miss Myoui.”

Mina held her sigh after she heard Sana closed the door and she was left alone in her room. Really, if another person other than Minatozaki Sana ever did, or said, such things to her, Mina wouldn’t let them live. Myoui Mina always wanted everything in her way, and she wasn’t sure of how longer she would let Minatozaki Sana to be able to stop her.

-

It was too much for her to handle at once.

She had heard many things before. Some things such as, abnormally high payment, unfriendly, robotic colleagues, or live or die don’t matter sounded impossible back then, but when she was actually there, she realized it was true. Everything she heard turned out to be true. And it went quickly from fascinating to scary for her.

To be a Character wasn’t easy. Some would say it was their dream job because of the indescribable salary. She would agree, if she only looked at the paycheck. Right after she signed the contract, after those physical tests that seemed endless, a very huge sum of money was given right to her, a sum she couldn’t even imagine she would have.

And it was only the beginning.

She wanted to be happy about it. Well, she of course was delighted at those numbers with a lot of zeros in her new bank account, but it was kind of ruined when she figured out the reason she was hired to be a Character.

It was because a former female Character decided to resign right after her contract ended. Characters, or Workers, that was how people above her call them, come and go pretty often because of an obvious reason, they didn’t want to die. They had enough. They didn’t want to do their job anymore.

The female Character she replaced was shot, yes, shot, on her right arm and it was decided that her arm wouldn’t be able to normally function for the rest of her life. The company didn’t want her to leave. The Constraint hated it when a Character resigned. They offered her an unimaginable amount of cash, luxurious facilities, everything they could offer so this character wouldn’t leave. But it didn’t work, the female Character still decided to leave, and that was how she was hired.

Live or die didn’t matter there. There was no one to blame if a Character died, because it was just a game, and who were they to protest when the money was too good?

It honestly made her scared. But earlier a manager, known as Lim Nayeon, told her there was no history of a Character actually died so she tried to calm herself. At least she could still resign after her contract was up, like the previous female Character did.

“Hey, you. The new one, you.”

Hearing the voice, she quickly stood up and turned around to give a very deep bow to whatever it was, “Y-yes, it’s me, Miss…”

She didn’t know the name.

The woman standing in front of her smiled as she gestured her to stand straight. She looked friendlier than that Lim Nayeon, probably the friendliest of all people she had encountered here. It made her nervousness fades away, somehow.

“I’m Dahyun, Kim Dahyun. You must be Chou Tzuyu.” The woman, Kim Dahyun, introduced herself as she extended her hand for a handshake.

“Ah, y-yes, Miss Kim. I’m Chou Tzuyu.” She hesitantly shook the cold hand.

“Nice to meet you. You’ve gone through a lot of tests, aren’t you tired?”

“No, not really. I’m resting now and it’s comfortable here, so…” She looked around the room for her to rest, with a soft bed and an air-conditioner. There was also a mini refrigerator with light food and drinks inside.

Kim Dahyun smiled, “It’s good to know but this is not your place to sleep while you’re here.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I’ll show you the real one later. Now, come with me. You should eat lunch first because after lunch, Miss Myoui and Miss Minatozaki want to see you.”

Her eyes widened, “M-me?!”

“Yes. Don’t worry too much about it.” Kim Dahyun softly tapped her shoulder, “It’s probably just a short meeting. Miss Myoui doesn’t really like hovering around. Now come on, let’s eat lunch.”

-

Maybe the unfriendly, robotic colleagues part wasn’t entirely true. Tzuyu stared in awe at the two female Characters, or basically her colleagues, across her. After Kim Dahyun, who turned out to be the third most well-known officials, after Lim Nayeon and Park Jihyo, walked her to the cafeteria, she was seated with the two she wanted to meet the most.

The top two female Characters the Players would fight over. They were the biggest senior among all twenty-five Characters, so Tzuyu expected them to be as evil-looking as the others, but fortunately, the two were really friendly. Kim Dahyun told the two to accompany Tzuyu and the newbie couldn’t be any happier at that.

“So,” she started again, “you guys are really Zero-One and One-Nine?”

“Yeah.” The one with the short hair nodded with full of food, “But don’t call us that. I mean, we’re all Workers. We should call each other’s names instead of codes. I’m Yoo Jungyeon and this is Hirai Momo.”

The other Character, One-Nine, or Hirai Momo was busy munching so she only nodded with a warm smile.

Tzuyu’s smile widened.

“And you are?” Jungyeon asked.

“O-oh, yes,” She slightly bowed her head, “I’m Chou Tzuyu. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi, Tzuyu.” Both of them said simultaneously, “Eat your food before it gets cold!”

In her whole life, Tzuyu never once saw a cafeteria that big. It was a huge hall, probably a dome, with tons of foods, drinks, beverages, desserts, it was endless. It was where the characters eat, be it breakfast, lunch, dinner, or whenever they wanted when they had time. They could eat as much as they liked, there was no limit, no payment needed, everything was free. The food tasted amazing too. Tzuyu felt like she was going to gain weight right after her first meal there.

“They treat us like we all belong in A-lists.” Momo said after Tzuyu asked her how she could stand being a Character for a long time, “Everything given to us has been amazing, right? Great place, great food, great money too. You haven’t received your first payment, have you? I mean, the real payment not the one given after you signed the contract.”

Tzuyu shook her head.

“Be patient until three months ahead.” Momo continued, “They pay us quarterly. And you know what? One payment can literally be used to raise one child.”

Tzuyu’s mouth hung open, “Is it that much?”

“Yeah,” Jungyeon nodded, “do you know how much profit this company makes? The price for Players to sign up isn’t cheap, definitely not. It’s only for signing up. Then they will be tested first for their skill, and if they get accepted, they will have to pay again. We only have twenty-five Characters, meaning only twenty-five Players can get in, meanwhile do you know how many people sign up per year?”

Again, Tzuyu shook her head.

“Thousands, Tzuyu. Thousands.” Jungyeon gulped her food, “Imagine the money this company gets just from the registrants. Not counting those investors, sponsors, and all.”

“The prize for the winners is actually a lot greater than our salary, but still…” Momo exhaled, “man, those people who sign up actually have no life.”

“But without them we’ll be jobless so let’s just be grateful.”

“Isn’t it dangerous, though?” Tzuyu asked again, “This whole being a Character… isn’t it dangerous? I’ve heard about Six-Two…”

“Well, yeah, of course it is. Being a Character is very risky. What happened to Six-Two was the Player’s mistake.” Jungyeon put her spoon down, “Everything bad happened to the Characters was the Players’ fault. When the game starts, we can’t control ourselves, the Players do. They decide when we play and when we stop. Players need to always remember that we are real and all so that’s why they’re tested multiple times before they play. But some Players can just be… careless.”

“When they play, they get too engrossed in the game and forget about the consequences. That’s what happened to Six-Two. But don’t worry too much about it, there hasn’t been a Character who actually died. Most were just injured. We went through those too, didn’t we?” Momo asked to Jungyeon and the latter nodded, “You won’t die. Not as long as we still have Miss Minatozaki.”

“Miss Minatozaki?”

“Yeah, Minatozaki Sana, the second CEO. You know, this game has this system called the Force-Stop, when the Players can be forcedly stopped to play if their Characters are badly injured. It was Miss Minatozaki’s idea so that we won’t die.”

“So like a game-over?”

“Something like that. It’s like a last warning for the Players to stop playing. The Players decide when they start and when they stop, but to prevent unwanted things, the Force-Stop system was made. Miss Minatozaki is such a savior.”

Tzuyu felt fascinated, “Whoa. Does it work well?”

“Well, the thing is, there hasn’t been a Player who has reached that stage. Players always know when they should stop. Even the Players for Six-Two stopped at their own will. I don’t know the exact definition of ‘badly injured’ but I guess the system hasn’t even once worked because the Players always willingly stopped.”

Tzuyu only nodded her head at that.

“Complicated, huh?” Jungyeon smiled, “You’ll get used to it.”

They continued eating their lunch in silence. The other twenty-two Characters were there too, and they all were the definition of unfriendly, robotic colleagues part Tzuyu had heard. She was glad she had Jungyeon and Momo with her.

“Earlier Miss Kim Dahyun said that after lunch, Miss Myoui and Miss Minatozaki want to see me.”

“Miss Myoui?” Jungyeon and Momo asked again in unison.

“Yes, Miss Myoui and Miss Minatozaki.”

Jungyeon frowned, “That’s rare for Miss Myoui.”

“Rare?”

“Miss Minatozaki frequently visits us. She always greets the new ones too. But Miss Myoui…” Jungyeon cringed, “I don’t know, she has this dark vibe with her. It’s as if she’s always under a thunderstorm or something.”

“Yeah, she contradicts Miss Minatozaki a lot. You can say that Miss Minatozaki is an angel while Miss Myoui is… a grim reaper.”

“Grim reaper?” Tzuyu held her laugh, “Is she that scary?”

“Well, she’s not scary, scary, she’s just dark. Cold. Harsh. Like she has no emotion in her life. Maybe she’s too fed up with work but Miss Minatozaki is also a CEO and she’s really kind, so maybe it’s just what she is.” Jungyeon shrugged.

“All of us Workers here know that they fight a lot since they’re so different.” Momo said with a chuckle, “But it’s none of our business.”

“Man, can you imagine how rich both of them are? They probably have money as their toilet papers.”

Momo stopped munching and glared at Jungyeon, “You’re disgusting. I’m eating. But yeah, probably true.”

Tzuyu just laughed at the two.

The warm lunch continued for a good fifteen minutes before Kim Dahyun came back and told Tzuyu to come with her. Jungyeon and Momo gave her thumbs up and she didn’t miss those strange stares other Characters gave her as she walked away from the cafeteria.

-

“It’s probably only five to ten minutes.”

“Five to ten minutes?”

Tzuyu frowned deeply as Kim Dahyun said that. If it was only for five to ten minutes, why did these people have to line up and prepare that much? The sight of the staffs standing in line at the sides of the corridor they were walking through made her realize that they were going to meet the most important people of the whole The Constraint, Myoui Mina and Minatozaki Sana. She felt her heart thumping faster than ever.

“With Miss Myoui, I meant.” Kim Dahyun corrected her sentence, “Five to ten minutes with Miss Myoui. Like I said, she doesn’t like hovering around. It’s unusual for her wanting to meet Workers directly. But Miss Minatozaki is different, though. She’s probably going to stay longer to talk to you.”

Tzuyu only nodded nervously at that. After walking through endless corridors, they reached the room. Kim Dahyun nodded at the butlers and they opened the two big doors for them. They walked in, and there were Lim Nayeon and Park Jihyo inside so Tzuyu bowed at both of them.

They didn’t wait for long. A few minutes later, Myoui Mina and Minatozaki Sana came in.

Myoui Mina was a lot smaller than Tzuyu had thought. Not small, small but she wasn’t the super tall scary CEO Tzuyu had always imagined. She looked scary, no doubt. It was like she was always frowning the whole time. And her shoulder-length hair didn’t help either, it made her look even meaner. She really brought a weird atmosphere with her presence and it scared Tzuyu, even when Myoui Mina didn’t do anything but stare at her.

Meanwhile Minatozaki Sana was way better than Tzuyu had expected. She had long blonde hair and a warm smile. Jungyeon and Momo were right. Both CEOs were really different. Tzuyu could only stand there, fingers intertwining one another, biting her lip as Myoui Mina blatantly stared at her from head to toe.

“This is the replacement for Six-Two who recently resigned, Miss Myoui.” Park Jihyo started, after all of them gave their deep bows to both CEOs, “Miss Minatozaki asked us to raise the standard of the test to find better Worker, so we did, and she passed the test, so she was chosen and--”

“You did?” Myoui Mina ignored Park Jihyo and instead, turned to Minatozaki Sana beside her.

“Yeah, I did.” The blonde nodded, “The standard was raised pretty high, wasn’t it?” The three officials nodded immediately at the question, “Like you said, the tournament is in five months so we have to find the best replacement, am I right?”

Myoui Mina didn’t answer and stared back at Park Jihyo.

“With several tests, we concluded that she is able to replace Six-Two in the upcoming tournaments, Miss Myoui.”

“Hmm…” Myoui Mina crossed her arms and observed Tzuyu from down up to her face, and when her eyes met the Worker’s, Tzuyu quickly bowed to introduce herself.

“H-hello Miss Myoui and Miss Minatozaki, I’m--”

“Nine-Six.”

“Y-yes?”

“You’re Nine-Six from now on.” Myoui Mina said with a stare that probably could kill her, “Remember your code. Don’t screw up. Five months isn’t long.”

And with that Myoui Mina abruptly walked away to leave the room. Tzuyu stared in awe at the young CEO, until she forgot to bow like the others did when Myoui Mina left. Well, that was indeed very short.

“Can you all leave?” She heard a voice, and it was Minatozaki Sana, staring at her, “Except you. I won’t take long.”

“Sure, Miss Minatozaki. Take your time.”

The three officials and some butlers bowed and quickly excused themselves. Tzuyu stood there nervously, she could feel her palms sweating, and could only look down to the floor because even though Minatozaki Sana looked kind, she was still the CEO and that fact itself already had Tzuyu panicking inside.

“Chou Tzuyu, right?” Minatozaki Sana started, and Tzuyu was taken aback that she was called by her name.

“Y-yes, Miss Minatozaki.”

Minatozaki Sana only nodded and another unexpectedly, grabbed a hold of Tzuyu’s left arm and noticed the fresh scratched wound there. Or maybe she had noticed it since the beginning, Tzuyu didn’t know. She was busy gaping at the CEO.

She was very beautiful up close.

“The test must’ve been bad.” The blonde said as she let go of the arm to take something from her small purse, some band-aids. She tore one and wrapped it above the wound, “I’m sure you’re hurt somewhere else so go with Dahyun to the hospital after this for a checkup. I know you already went through health checkup but just in case, go there again.”

Tzuyu was about to nod and bow but she realized Minatozaki Sana was still holding her arm so she could do nothing but stare.

The CEO smiled at her, “You look tired. After the checkup you should rest. No more training for the rest of the day.”

Rummaging through her purse again, Minatozaki Sana took out something shaped like a phone but probably wasn’t one, and showed her the screen, “This is your code. We call Workers by the last two digits, so you’re Nine-Six. This code will be in your room’s screen so you’ll memorize it easily. The thing to remember is, most may call you by these digits, but I’ll call you by your name. Okay?”

Tzuyu eyed the number and tried to memorize it for some moments before she nodded with a slight bow, “Yes, Miss Minatozaki. I understand.”

After putting the phone and band-aids back inside her purse, Minatozaki Sana tapped her shoulder and said, “From now on, you’re a part of us and we will take care of you. Welcome to The Constraint, Chou Tzuyu.”

She had heard those words many, many times before but it gave her chills in hearing it from The Constraint’s CEO.

Tzuyu could only hesitantly nod with a, “Yes, Miss Minatozaki.”

After Minatozaki Sana was nowhere to be seen and Tzuyu was on her way to the hospital with Kim Dahyun, all in the newbie’s head was the numbers the CEO showed her.

ZRF491096. It was what she was from now. There was no turning back.

****