Chapter 1.2

"Katherine Katyusha, right?"

Came a polite sound from the girl who was supposed to be my pair. Okay Kat, don't screw this up, better make the best first impression you possibly can.

"Elizabeth Miles, I presume?" I gave her a polite smile

'I presume' my ass! Now I sound like a stuck-up honor student. God, I'm not used to interacting with other people.

"You can just call me Elizabeth, or Liz for short"

I nodded not knowing how to respond to her straightforwardness.

"Ohh are you Russian? I mean your surname sounds like one."

Is she doing the activity thing already? Probably not judging by her demeanor. I think she is just genuinely curious.

"My father is half Russian and half American but my mother is pure American so..... that makes me a quarter Russian I guess."

"Ohh really! Where do your folks live?" She said excitedly

"I came from a town called Ardmore just west of this city so, I'm new here to the city so I don't have that many acquaintances."

None at all in fact besides my aunt, but let's not tell her that.

"Ohh I grew up here in Philadelphia so you can ask me anything you'd like to know!"

"I'll keep that in mind. But first, let's continue while writing the information. It would be bad if we forget what we will write in the biography."

"O-ohh... I uhmm... almost forgot about that." She said apologetically while looking sheepishly at me.

Thought so, she's not writing anything and I doubt she has a perfect memory.

Our conversation continued while writing the important points. It was surprisingly easy to talk to her with her leading the conversation of course. When it came to hobbies, she became much more energetic and expressive than she usually was (which is a lot). She talks about her being a streamer of the game Champions of Andartha. A game that I was very familiar with.

Champions of Andartha or commonly called CoA by its players. It is the most successful game that came out when the full immersion virtual reality pod was in its initial stages of becoming well renowned. It has drastically risen in popularity along with the full immersion VR with a current player base of over 870 million and rising. That is all according to the article I read back then, which in hindsight might be a blatant promotion of the game by highlighting their huge player base. Its meteoric rise is mainly due to its competitive scene that garnered a lot of attention from potential players and the like. It was out for almost 4 years but every year the player base keeps increasing. Its biggest event, the Andartha Cup, a yearly tournament held every late November has the largest prize pool in the history of esports and is also integral to its popularity. Being a champion in that tournament can set you up for a lifetime of luxurious living, except for the first tournament though.

"How about you? What are your hobbies?" she asked curiously.

"I uhh..... play VR games too. Mostly single-player ones".

"Ohh! You should try playing Champions of Andartha! It's very fun especially when you play PVP with a team!" She voiced out loud getting a few stares from our surroundings.

"I..... already played it," I said in a subdued voice, prompting her to keep it down.

"Really!? What's your ign? What level and what role are you specialized in?" She said excitedly, akin to a child finding a playmate for the very first time.

"I-it's not my account though, I just used someone else." I half told the truth.

Memories of my sister flashed by. My heart sank while bile began to escape from my throat.

Not here. Not now Kat. Hold it in.

"...Katherine?"

"O-ohh sorry! I didn't hear you, I was lost in thought. What was it again?"

"I said, my friends and I scheduled a friendly match later with the local VR cafe players. Wanna come with me later? Pleaasssee?" She begged cutely making me want to accept it there and then.

VR cafes huh, never been into one but I heard it became commonplace after the rise in popularity of the VR pod. The news I read said that it would experience a boom just like those PC cafes back in the day, though I was probably just a baby back then when the net cafes were commonplace.

I pondered my choices for a second. A voice inside me wants to spend more time with Liz, while another, logical part of me doesn't want to go.

"I told you, I don't have an account." I made up an excuse, mostly for myself than for refusing her.

She smiled a bit smugly.

"I have another account that I don't use that much anymore. Max leveled at that. If you come with me later, I promise that you can use it anytime you like!"

Very tempting. To think she'd go that far, basically almost giving me free use of an account just to spend time with me makes me feel guilty even thinking about rejecting her.

"I'll think about it," I said neutrally.

She pouted, a very cutely pout if I might add, but I ignored it... Barely.

"But right now, let's focus on the activity." I forcefully changed the subject.

We talked a lot sharing most of the things we are both comfortable with sharing like our courses and such. I mostly avoid the topics about my family and thankfully she doesn't pry either. I also found out that aside from being a streamer, she is also the guild leader of Concord of Heroes'. It doesn't ring a bell, though to be fair, I'm not up to date with the current popular guilds. She is adamant about only recruiting members that she knows personally, a big reason why she wants me to play with them later and also to join her guild. Time flew as we talked and listened to things about each other and pondered what we were going to write in the bio. She is surprisingly fun and easy to talk to, even for an introvert like me.

Our teacher suddenly interrupted the whole class, prompting both of our thoughts back to the present.

"As the time is up, those of you who are not yet finished may continue even after our class if you wish. Just be sure to pass the bio of your partner on to our next meeting on Wednesday. That is it for today. Class dismissed." He left the class as eye-catching as he entered.

Elizabeth and I both looked at each other.

"I guess that's it for this class huh." She said with a rueful smile.

"I guess so." I nodded back.

"Ohh. you got any more questions for me?" She suddenly asked.

"I'm all good, I can work with what I have, you?"

"Hmmm.... I do actually," she said as she smiled mischievously. "Soooo.....about the PVP game later, you'll come with, right?" She asked hopefully.

I sighed

"Fine, fine" I conceded.

I'll just make up an excuse if I actually can't play it later but I'll lay it aside for now and let the future me handle it.

She beamed. It was so cute that I knew then and there that I made the right choice.... Probably.

"See you later then!" she waved as she headed for her next class, which was disappointingly not the same as mine.