“If something goes wrong tonight, I’ll fucking freeze the entire place.” Kathleen Maher cried while traversing the corridor, wearing her new blue ball gown dress, and her hair tied in an updo.

“What could be wrong, Guild Master?” Joana said calmly while trying to keep her pace. “The Golden Bitch won’t come tonight.”

Kathleen stopped in front of the door that would lead her to the dining area. “I fucking hope so. I know her, she would come just to spite me now that everything is finally working for me.” She exhaled. “How do I look?”

“Magnificent.” Joana smiled warmly, before meeting Kathleen’s frowning gaze, who was staring at her sleeved, ruched, long dress. “Should I change to something more modest, ma’am?”

“On the contrary. Use the black sleeveless mini dress you wore at William’s birthday. That way we’ll assure Sir Troy’s full attention.”

Joana reluctantly nodded and manipulated her User Interface, swapping her outfit in a matter of seconds. The dress’ fabric tightened her chest when it materialized.

“Good, now we don’t look like a princess accompanied by her freaking maid anymore. Let’s go,” Kathleen said, examining Joana’s curvy body one more time.

They got inside a crowded ballroom, where Kathleen instantly changed her cranky expression to a joyful one.

“There she is!” Sir Troy, a tall, muscular, middle-aged man waved at her from atop a podium.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was super hot,” Joana whispered to her boss, who snickered.

“Don’t get fooled, Jo,” Kathleen replied, without forgetting her fake smile. “Two years ago, when I met him, he was a fat, bald man.”

“Kathleen, congratulations to you and your team for winning the Inferno Summer Cup. You’re the living representation of what hard work truly looks like.”

“Sir Troy Sutton.” She made a curtsy. “Thanks for inviting me tonight. And I don’t deserve all the credit. This time the team was led by my protegé, Joana Costello, here.”

“Oh, pardon me, miss. I didn’t recognize you without your battle gear.” Sir Troy held Joana’s hand and kissed it. “Your cryomancy was a delight to see. You’re really learning from the best.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Sir Troy,” Joana said, blushing, making Kathleen roll her eyes.

“This sucks,” a woman said from her seat, far away from the host and his new guests. “Being here is a bore! At least we’ll get a free fancy dinner.”

“Mind your manners, Emily,” Calvin Sherman said while adjusting his glasses. “If we get kicked out by your lack of finesse, I will disband the guild immediately.”

“Yeah, right,” Emily Dominguez said after munching snacks. “We just recently merged, and we quickly rose to the top 100. You need me as much as I need you.”

“As much as it pains me to accept it, it’s true. At least behave until the ceremony ends, please.”

“Why hasn’t it started yet?” Emily moaned, slamming her forehead against the table. “I’m hungry.”

“I heard there’s going to be a raffle,” Tristan, Calvin’s right hand said, covering his mouth.

“A raffle? I wonder what the prize could be,” Carol, Emily’s best friend said, tapping her Guild Master’s shoulder. “Doesn’t that cheer you up a bit?”

“Who cares,” Emily said, face glued to the table. “I never win those, anyway.”

“Well,” Calvin chuckled, “I don’t want to sound pretentious, but back in my old life, I used to be extremely lucky with chance games.”

“And I never got what I wanted from gacha games…” Emily groaned, before receiving a system notification. She absently tapped it, and her sister’s voice banged inside her head.

“Emily, I need your help!” Clara Dominguez cried through video chat.

“W-what! What is it?!”

“Who’s calling you?” Carol asked.

“It’s Clara, it seems she’s in trouble. What do you need, sis? I’m in the middle of a celebration, you see! Did you call to congratulate me for…?”

“There’s no time for... What do you mean? Did you win the Inferno cup?”

“Of course! We got to tenth place,” Emily said, puffing her chest, making her sister grimace.

“Tenth place is not winning, Em. Not even close.”

“Oh, yeah? I would love to see you try!”

“Is it my imagination, or the two sound alike,” Tristan whispered to Carol, who sighed.

“You should have seen them at the beginning of our guild. Those were truly dark times.” Carol pointed at the paladin, whose mustache was twitching. “Just look at Calvin. I bet he’s experiencing some kind of PTSD just by hearing the sister’s voice again.”

“Whatever,” Emily said while munching a snack. “Why did you call again?”

“Oh, yeah! Where are you?”

“In Iregorn. Why?”

“Because I need your--!”

“Is that who I think she is?” Carol said after gasping, getting Emily’s attention.

From the double doors entered someone whose presence seemed to light the entire room, accompanied by two girls who posed behind her. “Cosmic!” the newcomers cried, getting cheers from everyone present.

“Miss Cosmica! Miss Cosmica is here!” Emily shouted, getting emotional.

“What?!” Clara made herself be heard despite the noise. “Turn the Video window, sis! Let me see!”

“I’ll call you later, bye.”

“Don’t you da--!”

“Joana,” Kathleen Maher whispered while having her eyes locked on the celebrity.

“Yes, Guild Master?”

“Pinch me.”

Joana did, getting her fingers frostbitten. “Ouch, Kathleen! Turn your Passive Skill off if you’re going to ask me that!”

“What is Miss Cosmica doing here?” Kathleen asked Sir Troy, who chuckled.

“After the tournament ended, I invited her to announce the raffle’s winner, not expecting much. But she said she had no other plans for tonight, and here she is!” The man paused to admire Kathleen’s expression. “Are you a fan, miss?”

“Are you kidding?” Kathleen said, grimly, before crying in a childish tone. “I’m her biggest fan! Do you think I could hold her hand?”

Sir Troy laughed out loud. “I’ll ask her to join us for dinner. How about that?”

“Thank you so much, Sir Troy! I would appreciate it!”

“You’ve earned it. Isn’t that right, miss Joana?” he said, grabbing her shoulder softly.

Joana gave him a short smile before concentrating on the one surrounded by people.

As Miss Cosmica strolled through the crowd, her two companions, equally dressed as pop stars, advanced in front of her, opening the way. Their dresses showed a galaxy with blinking stars and their hair sparkled at their every gracious move.

So those two are not only her dance partners, they’re also her bodyguards. Joana tried to look at their status with her ‘Eye of the Sage’ active skill, but it was useless. As expected from someone with resources.

“Sir Troy! What a lovely night, don’t you think?” Miss Cosmica said in a melodic voice. “Oh, what do we have here? The leader of the Death Bringers’ guild, the winners of this tournament. Nice to meet you.”

Kathleen froze for a second before reaching out her hand. “N-nice to m-meet you!” she said in a barely audible voice. “I’m your fan…”

“You are?” Miss Cosmica said, brightly. “I’m the one that should say that! I’m a fan of every guild run by women, and I’ve been following your career almost since the very beginning.”

“Oh!” Kathleen beamed, speechless, as Joana squinted to see the idol’s features.

I was right. Marissa was just playing a prank on me. Joana discretely opened her Menu Interface and consulted the picture Marissa Laflamme had sent her weeks ago. Yeah, now that I have the real deal in front of me, this picture looks like a poor imitation.

Miss Cosmica’s signature pink hair moved at her back like being submerged in water, and her eyes looked like staring into the deep of space.

Joana felt a gaze and quickly glanced at one of the beautiful bodyguards, who were vigilantly watching their surroundings.

“We can keep talking at our table,” Sir Troy said gallantly, offering an arm to the celebrity, who accepted and reached out a hand to Kathleen.

“What’s your favorite dessert, Miss Cosmica?” Kathleen asked, grabbing her hand as if they were old friends.

“That’s a troublesome question because Idols do not eat. Nah! Who am I kidding! I love pudding. You?”

“Me too! You should come to my restaurant bar at Fleurella someday. It's called the Drinking Banshee, and we serve the best apple pie in all The Novus.”

"I would love to!"

She’s not even mad that she’s not the major focus anymore, Joana thought, following her boss, while the bodyguards heeled them.

***

Having finished their dinner, Miss Cosmica promised Kathleen to take a picture together after finishing her work. The idol then stood on the podium, grabbed a microphone, and spoke in a sweet voice.

"How's everyone? Are you having fun?"

The crowd cheered for her, especially the Crusaders United's table, from which Emily was the loudest. "I love you, Miss Cosmica! Please, be my girlfriend!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't be anyone's girlfriend, because I already have someone I love!"

"The Milky Way!" everyone cried.

She chuckled. "You know me well, tee-hee. Now, listen. After a day full of battles and action, we must not forget that we are all part of a family. The Novus family. Like our host, Sir Troy has said before, these competitions’ main goal is to train the next generation of leaders, for something greater awaits us once our vessel reaches its destination. So this is a personal request I have for the 10 best guilds reunited here. When our slumber finally ends, and we have to descend to uncharted lands, would you help us achieve a better future?”

“Yes! We’ll do it!”

“Would you be the new cornerstones of humanity?!”

“Leave it to us, Miss Cosmica!”

“How encouraging is hearing you all so motivated!”

“Everything for you, Miss Cosmica,” Kathleen whispered, to which Joana rolled her eyes.

“Motivating the young is an important part of achieving this mission. Don’t you think, miss Joana?” Sir Troy said while placing a hand on her knee.

“Y-yes. I agree, Sir.”

Dammit, Kat. I didn’t mind knowing his looks were a lie, but I didn’t expect that his personality would be the classic ‘old geezer with money’! I should have known better when you asked me to change outfits.

“Are you going to eat that?” one of the idol’s companions asked, of blonde hair and joyous attitude, leaning to Sir Troy’s side of the table, which prompted him to take his hand away from Joana.

“You can have it,” the man said, handing her the plate, mildly smiling.

Joana thanked that girl in secret, whose gaze was concentrated on her food.

“Now, a little surprise from our sponsor!” Miss Cosmica said, pointing to her left, where something was being hidden under a curtain. “We’re going to make a raffle, for those guilds that got from fifth to tenth place! That this prize can motivate you all to keep training!”

The curtains fell, revealing a magnificent Flying Mount, engulfed in bright fire, making Joana choke on her drink after seeing it.