Dreamworld?

"Where am I?" Mercedes questioned while glancing around the crowded streets that surrounded her entirely. And it wasn't just any crowded street. It was a street from the archaic period, before the industrial age, when carriages and horses were the only means of transportation.

It was shocking to be teleported into a time when even her old ancestors had never been born. Though, she wasn't happy about it in the slightest. After all, no one wants to get thrown into another era.

"Spade, what am I doing here?" Mercedes asked with a tone of annoyance. She kept looking around with scrutiny in her eyes. The danger of being in another time was something she had taken into consideration.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬.]

[𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭.]

Spade's monotone voice echoed throughout Mercedes's mind. However, it didn't give Mercedes the answers she needed. It had done the opposite.

"W-What? Virtual-Augmented Reality?" Mercedes was confused, and numerous questions kept emerging in her mind.

What was the so-called Virtual-Augmented Reality? Was it the same thing as the machine she kept hearing on the news? Wouldn't that also mean that nothing in front of her was real? Practically a dream world of some sort.

"*Sigh...* Please, Spade... Make it clear to me. I don't want to be left out of any vital information." Mercedes shook her head and sighed as she was beginning to dislike the circumstances of not having an ounce of information.

[𝐕𝐀𝐑, 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒.]

[𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.]

[𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐕𝐀𝐑, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰. 𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭.]

Spade carefully explained what VAR, or Virtual-Augmented Reality for short, was. According to Spade, what it produced was more or less a dream. Despite being so real, everything around Mercedes was nothing more but the product of her brain.

With this in mind, Mercedes was in relief as she thought that she traveled back through time. Someone like her wouldn't want to go through a long quest to get back to her current time. Anyhow, she wondered what she needed to do in this dreamscape.

"So what should I do, Spade?"

[𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭.]

[𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.]

"Oh, hell no... You wanted me to talk to people? Are you out of your mind?"

"I haven't talked to anyone other than my mother and my little sister, also perhaps you. And don't even bother saying about my online friends. Those bastards are assh*les!" Mercedes expressed her denial of doing such a thing.

[𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞]

Though, even with Mercedes's denial of the quest, Spade wasn't having it and rejected Mercedes's rejection.

'She's right... My current main quest wants me to be a waitress in the Cafe for a short period of time. Nonetheless, how could someone like me become a waitress? With my trash communication skills, I won't last long before being slandered by customers.'

Mercedes ruffled her hair as she understood that what Spade said was correct. She needed to train. Otherwise, she'll embarrass her mother in front of the customers. Simply imagining it was enough to make her knees weak.

"That's right, nothing in this world is real. This is the product of my mind." Mercedes clenches her fist with a determined expression on her face. "This will be a peace of ca-"

"Miss, do you want to buy some flowers?"

Before she could continue, someone interrupted her. Mercedes looked forward and saw no one, but as she turned her head downward. She saw a young girl holding a flower basket. Looking at the girl, Mercedes sadly smiled.

"Sorry, kid. I don't have any cash with me right now." She didn't have anything with her right now. Besides, the currency of this dream world might be different than the ones from the federation.

So even with some money, she'll never be able to pay the people of this world anything with worth.

"This is for you, Miss." The young girl took a small daisy from her flower basket and gave it to Mercedes. Mercedes couldn't deny the young girl's appreciative action, so she accepted the daisy. Holding it with her hand, she couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, kid." This was the first time someone had given a flower to her for years. She couldn't remember when the last time was, but she was sure that she was given a flower during her childhood.

"You're welcome, Miss. I hope you have a good day." The little girl continued on and walked through the streets. She kept selling flowers to other passersby, and she seemed determined.

Mercedes continued gazing at her as the young girl's silhouette slowly faded in the background. As she was left alone, Mercedes looked at the daisy given to her. She held it tightly with her chubby arms, never wanting to let it go.

"I guess I should start." Mercedes also wanted to start her training in communication, so she began talking to another passerby. The first communication she had was almost adequate, but not enough.

She was stuttering in the middle of their conversation. It was rather bad enough that the passerby decided to leave and act as if Mercedes didn't exist. While her determination took a hit, Mercedes didn't give up and kept conversing with another passerby.

An hour later, Mercedes leaned on a wall while sighing to herself. Despite conversing with other people, she didn't feel like her communication skills were improving. What was she doing wrong? Should she continue or give up? Mercedes couldn't help but think.

"What did I do wrong?"

'Why would they stare at me after I started uttering my words? Is my voice that weird? Do I even speak the same language as them? Well, since the young girl could talk to me. I guess I could speak to them.' With surging thoughts shrouding her mind, Mercedes was deeply confused.

[*𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡...* 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲. 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝.]

[𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.]

"Hey, hey, don't start saying that. I did my best." Mercedes uttered with confidence. She kept leaning on the wall as others gazed at her from afar. She might not have noticed, but someone was slowly walking towards her.

It was a young lady who wore a dress that resembled clothing coming from the old Victorian era. She stood before Mercedes, who didn't notice her, and finally remarked. "Hello, there."

Mercedes turned her gaze forward and saw a young lady. It was a Deja vu, but she swiftly questioned the one before. "Do you want something from me?"

"Oh, I see... I get the problem now. There is no need to know my name. I just saw you conversing with other people that seemed to avoid you afterward like the plague."

"I wished to know their reasoning, but after hearing your response. I understand them."

The young lady responded with a serene and noble voice. Mercedes hearing her words, wasn't happy about it as the young lady before her appeared to be insulting her conversational skills.

"And? Why do you care about it?" Mercedes calmly questioned despite having furrowed eyebrows plastered on her face. She gazes at the young lady's eyes, waiting for an answer.

"I don't really care about it, but you look like someone who wants to talk to other people."

"I understand that speech is something hard for others to understand. So I'll teach you about it."

"I will help you learn how to converse with other people formally and respectively."

Mercedes tilted her head in confusion as she immediately replied.

"Why should I-" However, before she could utter her words. Something intervened, and a monotone voice echoed throughout her mind.

[𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭.]

[𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲.]

"Eh?" Mercedes didn't know what to say but understood what Spade meant. If this young lady in front of her was good at speaking, then learning from her shouldn't be a bad thing for Mercedes. With this in mind, Mercedes's face became softer and slightly bowed to the young lady.

"Then, you'll be my teacher."

"It will be a pleasure learning from you."

Hearing Mercedes's agreement, the corner of the young lady's lips rose. She glanced at Mercedes's sapphire-like irises and commented. "As expected, you have potential."

"Follow me." The young lady went on as Mercedes followed behind her. While walking through the sidewalk, the young lady explained what Mercedes needed to know about communication.

"Communication isn't as simple as talking to other people. You also have to convey what you need or want. You also need to express a humble emotion that doesn't attract negative ones."

"The way you speak seems as rough as the grainiest rock. You are also too straightforward when talking. Why don't you calm down and speak with subtle hints instead?"

"Subtle hints?" Mercedes questioned as she wondered what the young lady meant about subtle hints. How could someone like her use subtle hints? Should she say deep words for no reason? Does she need to omit some words to be subtle?

"It is as simple as walking. Avoid being directly straightforward and try to slightly assume what others say. You see... People don't want overwhelming things. Many questions will confuse them as much as you are. Too many answers will also make them disinterested."

"Find the balancing side between the two. There is also no need to assume everything."

"What I'm telling you are tools for communication. They aren't rules, but instruments to be used for specific situations."

The young lady stopped walking and opened a door. She stepped into a wooden building while Mercedes gazed upward and saw the sign of the building. It looked strange as it resembled an iron heart with a silver snake wrapping around it.

Though, upon following the young lady and entering the establishment. Mercedes finally realized what the sign meant. Her eyes were wide open, and she couldn't help but have a crimson-blazing pigment emerging on her cheeks.

"Damn, an entertainment hub."

"What are you waiting for? Follow me." The young lady looked back at Mercedes and continued walking through the entertainment hub. Mercedes soon followed and began observing her surroundings.

It was a surreal place with many people drinking liquor and stuff. There were also beautiful hostesses everywhere, and along with them were numerous bodyguards.

As she went upstairs, the young lady gazed at Mercedes and introduced the establishment to her.

"Welcome to Apate, amongst the best establishments in the Imperium."