Jon didn't realize anything was happening at first, too busy looking around his menu. His inventory and equipments were empty, but he did have some skills. However, he frowned as he saw what they were:
-Milking LV.1: Generally used on a cow to get some milk.
-Cooking LV.1: Cook a hopefully delicious meal, quality depends on ingredients used.
-Cleaning LV.1: Clean a messy area and make it shine, there is a very small chance of finding something useful.
"What the fuck are these?! I know my class is farmer right now but still!" Only silence answered him, making him look up. "Karyn?" The screen on the ceiling was still there, but it was black, with no sign of where Karyn could have gone. "What's happening?"
Meanwhile, Karyn looked at her screen. The game had reacted to something Jon said and now seemed to stop them from communicating until she had given him a name. She also noticed the game was now calling Jon "her" rather than "it" as it had been doing until now, making her fear what was coming for him.
With nothing other to do now, she tried entering Jon as his name but was given an error:
Error: Jon is a boy's name, please enter a girl's name.
"OK... this is a little creepy." said Karyn under her breath. She thought a little and typed Jonnie, but it was rejected once again:
Error: Jonnie is a unisex name, please enter a girl's name.
Karyn was starting to become frustrated... The game was basically asking her to help further her friend's feminisation, but she couldn't continue until she did so. She thought of naming him Jennifer and calling him Jen as it was pretty close to Jon, but she then realized the game couldn't force her to do anything as she was outside of it. She could still call him whatever she wanted, this was probably just the name everyone would call him in the game. She doubted the characters would abbreviate the name, so there was no point in calling hime Jennifer... And she didn't like the name anyway. So instead, following this reasoning, she just decided to simply give him a name she liked. Jon probably wouldn't like it but there were no options she could think of that he would like.
Inside the game, Jon was beginning to worry as he observed the ceiling where there was no trace of Karyn. He tried going outside the room in case it would bring her back somehow, but the door was closed. He was just staying there not knowing what to do when a small window appeared before him, just like the menu had before. On it was a simple sentence:
You have been named Emily.
He looked up after reading as Karyn's face reappeared on the screen. "Karyn? What's happening now? It says I have been named Emily?"
Karyn looked embarrassed. "Yes, it's my fault, sorry. It asked me for a new name for you, and it wouldn't accept a boy's name or even a gender neutral one."
Jon sighed. "Well, I guess that's fine. You'll still call me Emily, right?" He looked surprised at what he just said. "Wait, Emily! Emil... I can't say Emily... I mean my name!"
"What? I should have known something like that would happen... Sorry Jon." Karyn said, but Jon didn't hear his name as a new window opened before Karyn.
Please call your character by her name, she won't be able to hear you until you do.
"Shit..." Cursed Karyn after reading the message. "Emily? Can you hear me now?" She asked.
Jon, now Emily simply stared at her. "Let me guess... You can't call me by my name either?"
Karyn nodded. "It stops you from hearing me if I do. God I'm so sorry J..." Karyn mouthed something Emily didn't hear. "...Emily... That will take some time getting used to."
"I guess I'm Emily now..." He sighed, but this made him think. "But that means the game is sentient or something if he can detect you calling me Emily... I mean... Fuck! You know what I mean!"
"Yeah, and it asked me to give you a name when you complained about not having one." Karyn added. "Does that mean it will react to what we say or do?"
"Normally, I'd say this was pretty cool, but I'm worried about what it means for the rest of the game." Emily said. "But it's not like we have any choice in the matter either. We have to continue."
Karyn nodded but soon looked confused. "J... Emily, the tutorial isn't here anymore. It disappeared when I had to enter your name. What do I do?"
"I don't know... I'd say it was a bug, but I don't think the stone would have made a game with bugs." Jon thought a moment. "Maybe ask the game? If he really can hear us, it might work."
Karyn wasn't sure about this, but tried anyway. "Hum... Game? Could you bring back the tutorial, please?" And her request was answered when a window appeared on the screen.
I'm at your service.
