Luckily, Shindo had no trouble falling back to sleep. Still, even after eating breakfast and heading to work, the cave world lingered in his mind. Why did it seem like that place had some meaning? He tried not to think about it too much as he entered the Chiptune City studio for the first time.

After entering, Shindo met his boss, Jōji Ono. He was in his mid-50s and did not take any nonsense from his workers.

"Good morning. My name is Ryo Shindo, and I will be working as a computer programmer for this company starting today. I am 23 and currently live in the Sky House Hamarikyu. I recently graduated from the University of Tokyo with a major in computer science, and I look forward to working here."

"That's very good. We could use some fresh talent around here," the boss replied. It seemed that Shindo already managed to get through to Ono. First impressions mattered in this kind of work environment.

He then showed Shindo the office where he would work. Once Shindo got settled in, he began coding for the company's upcoming game. It was about halfway done, so Shindo had his work cut out for him.

Ironically enough, the game's plot involved exploring a person's dreams.

The programming job turned out to be not too bad, even for a newcomer like Shindo. Today, Shindo had to look at the code for one of the game's levels to find any glitches. Then, someone would come and test the level. If no visible problems occurred, then everything would be set. A process like that takes considerable time, though. There could always be some previously unknown bug.

Around lunchtime, a woman of about 25 came by Shindo's desk.

"Hello. Want to get lunch?"

Shindo looked up. The woman had long, dark hair, wore thin-rimmed glasses, and had an outgoing personality.

"Sure," Shindo replied.

"You must be new here. I'm Yuki Makihara, and I'm a game tester."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ryo Shindo, and I recently became a programmer. Maybe later, you could test the changes I made to the level."

"Sounds good! Let's eat first, though," said Makihara.

They then headed over to the building's main break room, where various foods were available.

"I heard this game is all about dreams- I had a real crazy one last night," said Shindo.

"What dreams AREN'T crazy?" Makihara responded with a chuckle.

"True. This one was different, though. It felt like I was physically there," Shindo recalled.

"I've had a few of those dreams before. One was pleasant, but the others were terrifying. I would frequently get injured, and I would feel pain just like in real life," Makihara stated. "One time, I dreamt I got dragged along the ocean floor. Then, I ended up cutting my legs on some coral reef."

"Damn, that sucks. I'm sorry you went through that."

"Thank you. I couldn't wake up soon enough," Makihara said.

It was the first day of work, and Shindo had already found himself with someone with whom he had a lot in common.