CHAPTER 1 /// THE BORING SIGN-UP PROCESS: CUBECRAFT EDITION

~*~

“Yawn!”

Frill woke up, realizing that he had fallen asleep on his office desk. Beside him was a mountain of paperwork waiting to be filled up.

“How long has it been,” groaned Frill. “I’m not even done yet.”

He stood up from his chair and stretched his arms up into the air. He scanned the room for a nearby clock to tell what time it was, but there wasn’t any. 

He set his sights on the window beside his desk. It was still covered by a thick blue curtain, blocking the outside view entirely. He parted the curtains to the side, expecting the clear, starry midnight skies.

“What the-”

MY EYES! IT BURNS!

Much to his surprise, the early morning sunlight greeted him, filling the room with a blinding, warm light. Poor Frill’s half-open sleepy eyes couldn’t stand it, so he closed the curtain back, and returned to his desk, rubbing his eyes.

Morning already?!

He looked at the pile of paperwork that was on his desk the whole time. He took a sheet of paper out and read its contents; It was the registration form for the selection process; the registration will take place today.

“Not now… not now…”

In a hurry, Frill placed the registration forms in a woven basket in front of his desk. He prepared a set of feather pens together with an inkwell and placed them on top of his desk so the applicants could use them to fill up their forms. When he got done, he took out some blue cushioned chairs and arranged them outside his office, designating the waiting area.

When he finished, he returned to his office, and slammed the door behind him, sighing in relief.

Whew, all done.

He made his way to his chair, slumping on it as he sat. He raised his feet up his desk and closed his eyes.

Won’t hurt to catch some sleep before the registrations begin, right?

Frill felt himself lulling into a deep sleep. Just right before his mind completely drifted into the tranquil darkness, he heard a rather loud obnoxious sound from the distance, rousing him from his sleep.

Knock knock knock!

It was the sound of someone continuously knocking at his door.

“Frill? Friiiillll!” The voice behind the door was muffled, he couldn’t concentrate enough to recognize who it was.

“Five more minutes, please!” Frill opened his eyes and got up on his chair. He started organizing the form for the next applicant. “Coming-”

Out of nowhere, Wild kicked Frill’s office door, flinging it wide open before Frill could even stand up.

“OHOHOHO! Bonjour, Monsieur Frill,” greeted Wild. “Looks like someone had a good sleep last night. What’s up?”

Wild flashed a sarcastic grin, seemingly making fun of Frill’s deep eyebags as he saw them.

“Ugh, not really,” replied Frill. “If there’s something else you need, please come here another time, I’m going to get some rest before the registration starts.”

“But sire, the registration was supposed to start an hour ago!” Wild entered the room, and tilted to his side, revealing and pointing at a long line of people behind him, all waiting for Frill to start the registration process. Frill could even see Lyra behind Wild, just waving at him. “Oh, and, I’d like to sign up too.”

“Aww, come on,” complained Frill. “Alright, alright, let’s get this started with.”

Frill handed over the papers to Wild, who started writing away. As soon as he was done, Frill conducted a series of physical examinations on him to determine his health condition.

“Looking good so far-”

“DID SOMEBODY SAY WILD’S GONNA SIGN UP?!”

In the middle of getting Wild’s blood pressure, Frill heard a certain someone from behind the line.

“Oh dear…” Frill sighed.

“RAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!” this certain someone let out a war cry full of passion like an eagle letting out a scream.

They started stampeding through the line, pushing everyone to the side forcefully and trampling through others who were in their way.

Frill recognized the guy immediately. The man wore an army uniform of some sort– possibly belonging to an advanced district like Lifeboat or Hypixel– paired with a matching soldier’s steel helmet. Not only that, their face was already covered with war paint; the guy was already looking like the very definition of prepared, in terms of the simulation, of course.

“Hello, Privated- Woah!” Frill wasn’t saved either, Privated pushed him to the side as he continued pursuing Wild.

“GIMME THE FORMS FRILL.” Privated grabbed a handful of forms from the basket. He took one of the feather pens, soaked it fully in an inkwell, and started filling up the form as fast as he could as if there was no tomorrow. Wild’s face sank as he stood still in his spot, watching Privated sign up in horror, looking helpless.

“HAHA! YOU’LL REGRET THIS, WILD.” Privated proudly showed the form in front of Wild’s face. He then went up closer to Wild, grabbing him by his shoulders while shaking him. “I WILL KICK YOUR BUTT SO HARD YOU WILL REGRET SIGNING UP!”

“Uh guys, it’s Lyra’s turn…” Frill chimed in, only for him to be completely ignored.

“Not before I kick yours first!” Wild retaliated, pushing Privated away from him.

“No!” Privated pushed Wild back. “Not before I do!”

“Nuh uh!” Wild shook his head and crossed his arms.

“The heck you mean nuh uh?!” Privated scratched his head. “Yuh huh!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Yuh huh!”

The exchange between Privated and Wild’s nuh uh and yuh huhs continued for over a minute. Lyra interfered between the two, looking somewhat impatient.

“Come on guys, stop that,” requested Lyra. “Can I sign up now?”

“Nuh uh!” Privated answered mockingly.

“Oh, certainly!” Frill pointed at the basket containing the forms. “Just get a form over there.”

Lyra rolled her eyes and went over to the basket, getting a sheet of paper.

“Thanks, FrilL.” She then sat near Frill’s desk and started filling it up.

Privated and Wild never really seemed to stop talking back to each other even after Lyra got finished with her forms. In the middle of the argument, a towering, bulky figure of a humanoid frog appeared between Privated and Wild, unnoticed.

“Stop.” the voice commanded. It was Frogz. “Or I make you.”

“Nuh- WAAAHH!”

Just as Privated talked back, both he and Wild were carried by Frogz by the back of their shirts’ collars. They were then forcefully escorted outside the room.

“Papers, where?” asked Frogz, just as he entered Frill’s office again. “Sign up for trial.”

“Here ya go!” Frill went up to Frogz and handed him over a copy of the registration form. “Have a seat.”

Frogz took a seat in front of Frill’s desk while filling up the documents.

“You two would make a great pair,” commented Frill, noticing Lyra’s froggy beanie and Frogz’s frog-like looks. “Brains and brawn-type duos often win the global games. Both of you are frog-themed too!”

“Oooh, I could see that,” said Lyra. “It would be really cute too.”

“Thank you.” said Frogz.

“In that case, good luck on the simulation, Frogz,” added Lyra. “We’ll do our best.”

“Yes, I do best,” replied Frogz. “So no one die.”

“Come on, don’t say that! I trust this year’s selection process, and I’m sure we’ll be trained well enough. We’ll win this year, definitely. I believe in everyone here.”

“Sorry,” apologized Frogz. “Yes, Cubecraft do best too. Cubecraft can win global.”

Lyra nodded and smiled at Frogz, who also smiled back. Together, they finished filling up the forms.

After the two had finished their forms, Worlden entered the room, still in their pajamas. They aren’t wearing shoes either, although Frill was used to seeing them not wearing any, and whenever they wear the most out-of-place clothing during special occasions, which was almost every time.

“Good morning, Frill,” greeted Worlden. “I’m here to sign up, yes. Would be nice if we had coffee… Yawn! Oh man. Yeah, I can do this on my own, don’t worry.”

Worlden took a form out of the basket for themselves, sat in front of the desk, and started writing.

“Coffee, you say?” Dual asked as she walked into the room, pushing in a cart with trays full of coffee. “Here you go, everyone, take one cup. Good morning, y’all.”

“Oooh, nice.” Worlden took a cup from Dual’s cart. “Thank you, Dual!”

“Haha, it’s nothing. Do enjoy, though!”

“Thanks Dual!” Frill reached for a cup from the trays and placed it on top of his desk. “You gonna sign up?”

“Yeah, I will!” said Dual, as she was already leaning down to reach a form from the basket. “Was already trying to get a form, actually.”

“That’s great, but won’t it interfere with your work?” asked Frill. “We won’t have a castle chef for days, and it would be hard to convince Reesle to return as the castle chef. Actually, we’ll really, yeah, really miss you a lot. A lot lot.”

“You really made it sound like I won’t make it out alive, heh,” said Dual. “Don’t worry, I got this. Participating in the global would also be a good excuse in showing off my cooking skills, even if it means I die trying.”

“Woooow. Okay, knock yourself out.”

Dual’s eyes lit up as she started filling up her form.

~*~

Frill took a sip of Dual’s coffee and returned to assist the remaining registrants in filling up their forms. Within a few moments, he could already feel a sudden rush of energy flowing throughout his body, keeping him awake for hours and letting him work at a faster rate.

“...And we’re done,” said Frill. “Good luck, Mel!”

“Thanks!” said Mel. “See ya ‘round, Frill! I’ll do my best.”

“Bye, Mel!”

By the time Mel had left Frill’s office the skies were already dark, and the full moon was already shining brightly through the windows.

“Ahh, all in a day’s work.”

Frill opened one of his desk’s drawers and took out a phonograph record. He then got up from his chair and went to the phonograph beside the corner of his office. He inserted the disc there and pressed a button for it to play the recording.

“...And now, a live performance of Clair de Lune, by Diamond of the Lifeboat District’s Northriver Institute.”

Frill closed his eyes after the voice from the record stopped. An applause from an audience could be heard from the phonograph’s speakers, followed by the song’s sweet-sounding, mellow notes, all coming from a piano.

He fell into a deep sleep on his office chair, dreaming of nothing but pitch black and the notes of the song seeping into his mind.

Before the song could even end, the discordant noise of repeated knocking intruded amidst the rhythm.

Knock knock knock!

Frill opened his eyes, irritated.

Really now, signing up in the dead of night! Whatever.

He walked up to the door, and opened it, revealing a girl with pale skin and long, straight, dark violet hair.

“Good evening miss, how can I help you?” asked Frill.

“I’m here to sign up for the selection process,” said the girl. “Is it still open?”

No, and you should’ve signed up earlier!

“Uh, yeah.” answered Frill.

Okay, we don’t even have enough people who are willing to sign up, I should let her.

“Thank you, and I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

The girl filled up her form, finished it, and handed it over to Frill. 

He immediately recognized the girl's name as he read it: Crystal.

“Wait a second,” said Frill.

The name rang a bell for him. He searched inside his drawers and got himself a missing poster of Crystal. “This is you, right?”

“Yeah,” answered Crystal. “How long has it been?”

“A week ago.”