"Mkay, Melonboy. Done with the soup bowl."

A hardly recognizable clink hits Jimin's ears after a few moments of listening to various pitched slurps. Pluto must have set the soup bowl down on some hard surface. As if rejuvenated by the soup's healing powers, the restless SpongeBob doppelganger skids over the marble floor of the waiting room towards the door leading to the 1st level.

"Let's gogo to the first dodo~" Pluto chimes with a lip smack.

Jimin doesn't pay too much mind to the way Pluto speaks to him. Sure, it's strange, but he's witnessed a lot stranger at Radon--the 'hip' bar he works for. 

Despite the bar's questionable name--(radon is, in fact, a carcinogenic & radioactive gas found in the ground that harms more than it helps the human body when in contact for prolonged periods of time)--the young crowd adores the neon lighting and dim interior of the bar. It makes for busy happy hours, which means Jimin gets tipped up a storm.

It also means he gets hit on more, which doesn't help his nerves one singular bit when the flirters in question are female.

"You comin, Melon?"

"Yep. Yes. Affirmative."

Jimin moves his character forward with a flick of his thumb on the front arrow of his controller. The legs of his pawn kick out more jerky than Pluto's do, but he finds the slight visual bounce that indicates walking more preferable to the creepy sliding that Pluto does.

When they arrive at the door with the 1, Pluto lifts up his hand. The yellow phalanges wiggle around almost expectantly towards him. In his headphones, Jimin hears a sigh.

"You gonna give me a good luck high five before we go into this, Melon?" The yellow hand circles in the air, like a mysterious hand washing cars. Jimin hesitantly raises his arm and reaches forward. They complete their digital high five with a happy yes out of Pluto97 and an awkward silence from Melonaju.

"Now, uh...are you ready to open the door, Pluto?"

Jimin waits for a response but doesn't get one. Instead, Pluto skids to the handle, taps it once, and shies away. The black, creepy eyes of his failed Nickelodeon character face Jimin. 

Through Jimin's headphones, a tight inhale can be heard.

"Actualllyyyy...changed my mind bowl. Ladies first."

Mind bowl? Ladies?!

Jimin's heart falters for a moment in worry and aversion. He is not a woman...or a lady. He knows it's supposed to be a joke, but to him it hits a hard spot. Being called that hurts him more than Pluto knows--it taps into the side of himself that he really despises.

That he fears.

"U-ugh...whatever, Pluto. I'll do it then."

Jimin opens the door in the game before he can have second thoughts or think too deeply about Pluto's comment. The door creaks open. Both Pluto97 and Melonaju peer in curiously. 

Bright ceiling-length lights buzz, illuminating a relatively small classroom. Two wooden desks face a clean chalkboard. Nothing else is in the room.

"A classroom? Are you afraid of taking notes, Melon?"

Jimin scoffs. "No, and by the way I'm not even in school right now-"
.

WELCOME PLUTO97.

WELCOME MELONAJU.

BEFORE YOU COMMENCE THE 10 WEEK CHALLENGE IN THE BUDDYSHIP, YOU WILL BE BRIEFED ON THE ALTERED BUDDY EXPERIENCE AND HOW IT WILL WORK.
.

"Why isn't my heart font working?"

Jimin hears Pluto whispering to himself but the mic picks it up. He smiles under the headset, biting back his comment. Pluto chose the same font as him, the one with hearts!

Why does that make him feel more at ease?

The deep voice picks up, narrating the game's rules with effervescent clarity. Jimin strides to one of the desks, facing the chalkboard where words begin to materialize in white streaks. His character plops down on the desk with the press of a button. Soon, Pluto does the same, sitting his character in the other desk.
.

ACCORDING TO YOUR PERSONALITY TYPES, YOU TWO SHARE SIMILAR PHOBIAS. IN THESE 'PAIRED' SITUATIONS, YOU WILL COMPLETE TASKS WITHIN EACH LEVEL TOGETHER. THIS MEANS YOU MAY NOT MOVE ON TO THE NEXT LEVEL IF ONE OF YOU FAILS.

ONE PLAYER'S FAILURE GUARANTEES THE PARTNERSHIP'S FAILURE. IF THIS OCCURS, BOTH OF YOU WILL FORFEIT THE CHALLENGE.
.

A growing pit of unease settles in Jimin's gut. Part of it is pressure--he knows if he fails a level, he'll ruin Pluto's chance at the sought after Winner's Circle.

Another part is curiosity. Do they really share similar fears? Does Pluto shake when it thunders really loud outside? Is he scared of masquerades?

Beside him, picking at the desk, Pluto sits in silence.
.

HOWEVER, NOT ALL FEARS ARE COEXISTING. AS INDIVIDUALS, YOU WILL HAVE TO FACE EVENTS THAT ARE EXCLUSIVE TO YOUR OWN PHOBIAS. IN THESE LEVELS, EACH OF YOU WILL FACE A SEPARATE DOOR.

YOU CAN CHOOSE TO TACKLE THESE INDIVIDUAL FEARS ALONE, BUT THE GAME HIGHLY SUGGESTS THE GHOST VERSION FOR YOUR SIMILAR PERSONALITY TYPE.
.

"It must be referring to the Dependent type." Jimin tilts his head to look at Pluto. His buddy isn't even facing forward; the SpongeBob character is twisted around in his chair to watch the door from whence they came. "Don't you think, Pluto?"

Pluto jerks to the side. "Oh...hmm? Oh, uh, yeah."

Jimin crinkles his brow. Why did that hmm oh uh yeah sound so distracted? Or is he just hearing things wrong?
.

THE GHOST VERSION ENABLES THE BUDDY TO ENTER THE LEVEL AS A MENTOR, HELPING THEIR COUNTERPART COMPLETE THE LEVEL VIA AUDIAL METHODS. 

THE GHOSTING PLAYER CAN BE BOOTED FROM THE LEVEL AT ANY TIME BY THE PLAYER EXPERIENCING THE CHALLENGE FIRSTHAND.
.

Audial methods? What is this, some kind of ASMR counseling?

Is Pluto supposed to talk in his ear and tell him that spiders aren't actually scary, so he should really stop shuddering? Or that perhaps women and men are supposed to get along based on evolution, so he should really grow some balls and stop avoiding the other sex? 

Jimin frowns as the chalked letters disappear from the board. Pluto isn't even reading them--he's still facing the doorway. Except now, he's half facing the door, half facing Jimin.

Is he scared? 

"A chalkboard?" Jimin dares to bite back at Pluto. "What are you, afraid of calcium carbonate?"

"Cal, who now?" Pluto crosses his arms. His voice drops into a low tone, wavering between exasperation and theatricality. "I ain't 'fraidy no chalk. I was jus' waitin' for the doors to appear!"

Jimin's eyes widen as the familiar accent comes out. However, given Pluto's no personals rule, he shuts his mouth before he can speak.

Pluto is from Busan too?
.

REMEMBER, AT NO POINT IN ANY LEVEL CAN THE VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET BE REMOVED. IF ANY TAMPERING ENSUES WITH THE VISUAL SENSORS, AUDIAL SENSORS, OR PULSE PADS TO CHEAT DURING A LEVEL, THE FINAL SURVEY WILL CATCH ALL THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY.

WE CAN CATCH ALL LIARS. YOU CANNOT LIE TO THE GAMEMAKERS. WE WILL KNOW, AND YOU WILL FAIL.

ANY FORMS OF CHEATING WILL BAN PLAYERS FROM UNLOCKING FURTHER LEVELS AND WILL RESULT IN A FULL DELETION OF ACCOUNT.

.

"D'ja hear that, Plutoh?" Jimin feels himself slipping into his Busan accent. After hearing the lilts of his hometown from Pluto's mic after so long, it's like something unlocks within his vocal chords. His satori is a little dusty from sparse use, but he finds it sharp and whiplash-worthy once it pours from his lips. "No more hoppin' on th' ceilings or usin' those cheaty codes, we migh' jus' fail the game."

Pluto bursts into laughter and waves his yellow, stickly arms around. Jimin grins at the reaction--it makes him feel pride in Busan. "You know the accent! Cool."

Cool. Just cool.

"Yeah...yeah I do. But I mean it, no cheating, Pluto."

Jimin finds himself a bit disappointed. Isn't Pluto at least going to ask him what part of Busan he grew up in? No, he supposes. No personals basically implies anything that you wouldn't tell a conman wanting to steal your identity.

But won't that be almost impossible with a game that's so personal? Jimin wonders how he's going to keep the personals under lock and key when some of his more intimate fears come out...like his phobia of getting fillings at the dentist, or his fear of that one aunt he sees every other Christmas.

But the game doesn't know about those things...no...impossible. He'll probably just experience spiders and ghosts here.

Nothing too personal...
.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING ANY PORTION OF THE GAME, REVIEW THE MANUAL OR PERILATION: THE GAME RULE CONTRACT IN SETTINGS.

OTHERWISE, ENJOY THE GAME!

>PLUTO97 & MELONAJU<

THE GAMEMAKERS AT SPEROSITY WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK IN OVERCOMING YOUR FEARS...

TOGETHER.
.

Together. 

That word of unification. 

Jimin doesn't know how he should feel about it, if he should feel lucky that he has some kind of partnership to get him through this or if he should be worried that this may not be the best idea-

"Look! Two dodos have appeared, Melonseal!"

Jimin blinks.

Dodos? Oh yeah, Jimin remembers, doors.

Jesus, can this guy speak Korean? Or is he one of those insane gamers that lose their ability to speak in 'commoners language' because of how secluded they are from society?

Jimin brushes the thought off as a dual set of doors rise out of the ground. Instead of being set into a wall, the doors stand alone, surrounded by nothing. It reminds Jimin of Monster's Inc. And it might even hold a monster on the other side, too. Or a screaming child. Jimin doesn't know what would be worse.

"Melonseal? What the actual." Jimin stands up out of the desk to approach the freshly arrived doors. Pluto does the same. "What goes on in your head, bro."

"Isn't this like Monster's Inc?" Pluto blurts, choosing to ignore Jimin's question. He hits the doors lightly with a yellow fist and jumps back when it makes a small knock. 

"That's what I was thinking." Jimin joins Pluto in knocking on the doors, too scared to actually open them. "Oh, look on the back. They have our usernames on them."

Pluto saunters around to the other sides of the doors, punching at the names Melonaju and Pluto97. In his headset, Jimin swears he can hear the other guy breathing heavier...or is that just him?

"How come my door is shorter than yours!" Pluto's punches come less intense, until eventually he's just gently tapping the digital wood. "I know my character is a shorty, but...hmm..."

Pluto sighs deeply, prompting Jimin to step in. "Okay, but would you rather have a tall door, which implies more space and worse fears!? I don't think so. Whereas my door contains a tsunami simulation or something ginormous and awful, yours probably has a spooky mouse."

Well, there goes two of Jimin's fears. That information is hardly personal. No con artist could steal his identity knowing something as trifling as his fear of large waves or snapping rats. Nobody. Not even Pluto. He hopes the game makers at Sperosity don't steal his personal information to impersonate him.

Pluto crosses his arms, swaying his feet back and forth in that strange way that his character does. "Doesn't help if you're claustrophobic."

Oh...so that's why he doesn't like the small door.

Jimin clears his throat, ready to reassure his buddy that it's just a game, but Pluto beats him to it.

"Anyway, I say we use the ghost version for this first level. Yeah, I'd like that. The ghost version. Can we use the ghost version? It's the first round...ghosting...hmm...it's not like it could be harmful in any way. Plus, ghosts are invisible, inclined to haunt only those who hate them. Does that mean they're helpful if unperturbed? Yes, ghost version it is. Or not? Melonchild, what do you consider appropriate? But what if the ghost version malfunctions? Yes...no...yes? Agh, no...it might be purposeless..."

Pluto blabs on for a few more seconds like this, back and forth--completely in support of the ghost version in one breath and denouncing it in the next. Jimin listens attentively, trying to decide himself if he wants Pluto witnessing his fears firsthand as a ghost. 

Since the doors are separate, they don't share whatever fears are behind them. That might make it kind of awkward...since Jimin isn't really good at comforting people and Pluto talks in a weird way. Jimin hasn't practiced his interpersonal comfort skills in a while because Hoseok rarely needs comfort other than the occasional back slap. At the bar, he only ever lies to people who ask him if it's going to be okay  after a breakup or other hard life event. Jimin cannot comprehend relationships, nor does he care to try and fumble his way through giving love advice. He's horrible in all of those aspects and doesn't expect himself to be any better at them through a game. 

He doubts he could give Pluto adequate pep talks to get through the fears...maybe the ghost version isn't for them?

"Maybe we should try the first round without?" Jimin suddenly speaks up, stretching his neck. "And see how it goes? Then after we can get together and decide."

Pluto falls quiet, shifting only his wrist back and forth against his character's hip. Meanwhile, Jimin stretches his neck and waits for Pluto to answer, cursing his heart rate for picking up from the anxiety-inducing doors. What will be behind the first one? How absolutely horrible will it be? 

Will the challenges be as difficult and disturbing as all the reviewers say they are?

"Okay, Melon. I guess we go in separately this time around."

A tiny hint of sarcasm is audible in Pluto's words, yet Jimin doesn't find it as comforting as it was meant to be. The whole idea of buddyship is to get through the game together, and what does he start off by doing but telling Pluto to separate? It seems obtrusively counterintuitive.

"Right...right." Jimin wonders what time it is outside of the game, and how much time he has wasted listening to Pluto eat his soup and talk his ear off. "We should probably hurry to it, then. I need to beat this level before my roommate gets home from scho...oh."

Jimin cuts himself off. A con man might be able to stalk him if he mentions the status of his room and board pal. It surely wouldn't pass Pluto's no personals legislation. As if sensing Jimin's disappointment at not being able to share more about himself, Pluto nods his yellow head. 

"It's fine, you didn't mean to share that information and I'll pretend I didn't hear it...anyway, that's cool. I'll try to be quick. Did those rules mention a time limit? Or..."

"Nope." Were you paying any attention, Pluto? Jimin wants to say, but he refrains from doing so. "But I read on an online forum that the game kicks you out for a thirty minute anti-entry period if you can't beat the level after an hour. Also, the second level door will open 24 hours after beating the first level. It's a precise, consecutively structured game, and based on research-"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, Melonboy--we get it. You're outta school and you're all smart and graduated and you did your research. Let's beat the level already so you can get back to that roommate."

Jimin's arm tenses with mild offense. "I'm not a graduate-"

"Should we get going?" Pluto's hand suddenly touches the handle of his door. The entire frame of the door illuminates in a blue glow. "Woah, what the Satan's quarters?"

"The hell?!" Jimin clarifies as his own door glows a heartbeat red. He hasn't even touched the handle, yet both of the wooden slabs are lit up in opposite colors. Why is his door red? Why is Pluto's blue? Do they hold any significance? 

"Why are they glowing?"

"To urge us on?" Pluto releases the handle. "To...I don't fucking know. Let's just play-"

.

LEVEL ONE: THE INITIAL.

WOULD YOU TWO LIKE TO UTILITZE GHOST VERSION FOR THIS LEVEL?

YES!

NO.

.

"Pluto, are you getting the ghost message on your screen too?"

Jimin hears mmhm in his headset. 

"Did you choose NO? I already did. I think the game is waiting on you."

The pit in Jimin's gut swirls around. Is this a mistake, choosing not to have Pluto with him for this level? 

Theoretically speaking, he would've been completing this game on his own had the software not suggested he take on a buddy. He would have been stepping into the classroom alone, listening to the instructions alone, and inevitably going into the door alone...if not for his and Pluto's pairing. 

So why does choosing NO bother him so much?

.

YES!

NO. ✓

.

"Okay, I chose NO."

"Okay."

Jimin steps closer to the first door and lifts his virtual reality hand close to the handle. He chances a look over at Pluto and sees him doing the same. 

"So...this means we aren't going to hear each other in the mics anymore..."

"Yeah..."

Jimin touches the handle. The red door with Melonaju etched into it glows even brighter. 

"So...good luck?"

"...best wishes."

"You, uh, got this."

"You too...Meloncoop."

"Really. Meloncoop."

"Can a man not be creative when he's scared?"

"You're scared?"

"Maybe...you know what, the longer I stand here..."

"Is standing here making it worse? I guess loitering does have that effect..."

"Right! Like, why are you standing here...loitering...haha...hah..."

"So uh, are you going to go first or-"

"Same time? Can we go at the same time?"

"Would a countdown suffice?"

"Who says suffice before they count down? Sure, I guess we can. Like...three...two...one--suffice!"

"How about three two one go? You know, like normal humans."

"Nah nah...how about three two one...open?"

"That's too implicative. What are we even opening? The doors? Ourselves--to danger and psychologically destructive stress? Hah. Hahah. Hah, ahaha..."

"You good there, Melonboy? Because we can wait a little longer. When is your roomie getting home?"

"I thought no pers--agh, whatever. He'll be back around four. What time is it now?"

"It's...uh...well the clock on my phone device tells me three fifteen."

"Phone device...? Who says that...but oh! Uh, what's your battery percentage on your phone device? Is it at 97%?"

"No...it's...oh yeah! Nope, nevermind. It's 79%. Why do you care?"

"Curious. Is all. Um, anyway...shall we...shall we count down now?"

"If a countdown will suffice."

They are getting no where. 

Jimin can't help but fall onto the same babbling track that Pluto had put himself in a while ago, trying to avoid whatever is lurking for them behind the first level doors. Since they are both in the dependent category, Jimin figures it will be a you go first, no you go first dynamic until one of them takes charge.

"Yes." Jimin decides to take charge. 

Even though his hands are clammy and he has no great enthusiasm to open the red door in front of him, he knows he needs to get going. Hoseok will be home soon and Jimin doesn't want to let his friend know that he purchased the exorbitantly priced game and pulse pads.

"It will suffice, Pluto. Let's start the countdown. Ready?"

Pluto is silent. Jimin presses on.

"THREE, TWO, ONE--G-"

"SUFFICE!"

Next to him, Jimin notices Pluto turning the handle and forcing himself into the room. Jimin does the same, bracing himself for a horrible, bloody, terrifying mess. He expects zombies, some clowns--perhaps a room full of used-chewing gum to greet his entrance. He expects there to be blood-curdling screams, frantic booming music, and dizzying strobe lights. 

The last thing Jimin expects when he opens the door to the first level of Perilation is to walk into another classroom.

_._.

_._.

_._.