Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Part 1

Reiji

“…Where am I?”
I found myself standing in the middle of a medieval-style town. If I
recalled correctly, this was the square of the frontier town I was in just
a few minutes ago… However, its scale had expanded several times,
and the square, buildings and streets had become completely spacious.
“Reiji-san? Is that you, Reiji-san?”
“Oh, you’re here too, Ayame.”
A silver-haired young man, one head shorter than me, stood beside me.
He was wearing sharp-looking bluish metal armor, a cloak covering only
his left side, a shield on his back, and a slender sword hanging from his
waist. The familiar Saul from the game, but with strangely realistic
texture.
“Yes, I got swallowed by some weird magic circle, not to mention…”
“What’s the matter?”
“I feel something weird between my legs…”
Ayame… no, Saul, looked embarrassed as he mooched around the base
of his legs.
“Well, that’s because you’re a dude now… wait what?!”
I almost missed this detail, but there was no such “realistic” thing in the
game, was it?! I’m used to it in real life, so I was slow to notice it, but
what the heck!
“It can’t be helped, then. Seriously, how do you men move around with
this thing… Oh, Reiji-san, come take a look.”
He scooped up a handful of soil from the flowerbed and flaked it off.
“…This is too real. I don’t remember any specs like this.”
I picked a pinch of soil myself and put my nose to it, but it smelled
firmly of earth. I had no idea what kind of calculation was required to
reproduce such a realistic image. Game turning into reality, or sending
its players to another world, I’d only seen such developments in
Yanagi’s stash of novels he read for entertainment.
I pulled out a knife from its sheath strapped to the side of my waist.
Back in the game, the knife was just a decoration and I shouldn’t have
been able to pull it off… I took off my gloves and lightly scratched my
fingertip.
“…Ouch. Is this blood I’m looking at here…?”
The sharp pain and the slimy feel of my fingertips told me more and
more that my current situation was unusual.
As I was doing this, I suddenly felt eyes around me, and looking around,
I saw people looking at me from a distance and occasionally whispering
something to me… Well, to be fair, two adult men suddenly fiddling
with dirt and cutting themselves on their fingers would have been
suspicious, but then again, the game AI wouldn’t have reacted in this
way.
“Hey, Saul, let’s get moving… Saul?”
I looked at Saul, who was standing beside me, and saw that he was
mumbling something with a blue face, as if he were out of his mind.
“…Ah, let’s go somewhere with less people around, shall we?”
I saw him nod, and moved with Saul’s hand outside the town gate.
The road was wide and long, and all sorts of people were walking along
it. The snow underfoot was slippery in places, just like in reality, and it
took about 10 minutes to move to the town entrance, which took
almost no time in the game. When we reached the town’s wall, where
no one’s around, Saul suddenly stopped. I looked suspiciously at him,
who had not uttered a word since a few minutes ago.
“Saul? What’s on your mind?”
Saul had a blue face and looked like he was about to cry. I had never
seen this kind of expression in a game, and I frowned at the unusual
sight…
Hold on, there’re quite a few times when Saul… or rather Ayame-chan,
made this kind of face in real life. When this happened, it’s usually…
“Onii-chan?!”
“Oh, crap!”
That one word made me so upset that I wanted to punch myself in the
face. That should have been my first thought. But I was so bewildered
that I didn’t notice it.
“Onii-chan must be at level 1 right now because he’s just been
reincarnated! If I’m still ‘Saul’ here, that means he’s that ‘Iris’ with the
same looks and pure support status!!”
Hearing those words, I feel cold as if ice had been thrown into my head.
That guy has always allocated his stats based on the assumption that he
would be working with us. Base STR, and only the minimum VIT needed
for requirements because Saul had always been the perfect tank. Even
though he’s gone through his reincarnation, his level 1 stats were just
the initial value with a different color, only helped by a higher growth
rate. Even though the enemies in this area were not so strong, they
were still a sufficient threat to him. In the first place, it was unclear
whether the original stats were even valid in this world, and if, worst of
all, the physical abilities were only as good as one appeared, “Iris” was
nothing more than a slender, fragile girl. Moreover, he had almost no
useful offensive skills. What was I waiting for here? His situation must
be far more severe than ours.
Besides, the way Yanagi… Iris acted during our last conversation was
unusual. The more I thought about it, the worse it became.
“…Sorry, I hadn’t noticed. We must meet up with him as soon as
possible. You know which way to go?”
“Yes… we’d better hurry.”
After checking the direction with a compass, we hurriedly left the place.
The legs and endurance of this body were tremendous, and the scenery
was drifting backward in a flash. We had already been on the road for
more than two hours, sprinting about half of that time, but I didn’t feel
tired. The earlier concern, that if the in-game stats didn’t reflect the
physical capabilities in this word, was moot, but it was barely a relief.
It’s highly likely that a level 1 Iris would be no stronger than an average
person in the area, probably even worse.
However, even though I was marching at such a brisk pace, I could not
see the abandoned temple that I was aiming for. I was already running
at a pace that would have gotten me there in about five minutes if I had
been playing the game. I was getting impatient, wondering how much
of the world was out there.
We should have accompanied Iris to the reincarnation site.
I could not say such words out loud, because they would only drive
Saul, who was running next to me, into a corner.
Then, in my drifting vision, I suddenly thought I saw a figure among the
trees to my left. He seemed to be a man of good physique and mature
age. It seemed like a familiar face, but I could not recall.
“…Reiji-san?”
“Sorry, but could we talk later-”
We had to secure that guy as soon as possible. However, something
was strongly tugging at me. I couldn’t help but be curious, so I stopped
and walked to the place where Saul and I had just been, following him
with a dubious look on my face, but there was no human figure there,
as if I had seen it wrong after all. But instead…
“Is this… a page from a book…?”
“It looks brand new… Why is it here, of all places?”
…we found a blank piece of paper that seemed to be a torn page from a
book. As we looked at each other, we heard a “kin” sound of hard
objects colliding with each other in the distance.
“Did you hear that?”
“Sounds like someone’s fighting.”
“Let’s take a detour. You okay with it?”
I couldn’t help but be curious. It was as if something was guiding me,
some kind of premonition swirling inside me. Saul seemed to feel the
same way. He nodded his head, followed behind me, and we rushed
toward the sound.
Scott
“Scott, you coward, where the hell are you going?!”
“Because of your ass running away, we missed the fucking party! How
are you going to settle this, huh?!”
Of course, they knew that I was trying to escape and call for help. I was
almost on the road when I felt a sharp pain and something hot flowing
in my shoulder when I noticed the four pursuers. By the time I realized
that the arrow had pierced my leg, I was limping and had fallen. By the
time I got up, they had already surrounded me and seemed to have no
intention of letting me go.
They couldn’t wait any less to get this over with and return to have
their lowlife “party”. When I was confronted with the fact that my own
life was an insignificant thing that stood in the way of their “fun”, I bit
down in frustration so hard that my back teeth cracked.
“Even a coward like me still has something to do… I can’t die here just
yet…!”
I held up my dagger. My hand and feet were shaking, but if I didn’t
overcome this crisis, that girl would… So that’s why, this time… I must
do it…!
“What the hell’s wrong with you?! Wasn’t it you who ‘sold’ her to us to
save your own skin?!”
It’s just as they said. I’m a completely spineless coward.
My left arm was numb from the arrow, and I couldn’t do anything with
just a short dagger against the four of them… I must… call for help… no
matter what…!
Reiji
We ran a little further into the woods, and saw a fight. To be more
exact, four dangerous-looking men were pointing their weapons at a
wounded man with an arrow in his shoulder, looking absolutely
distraught. I didn’t know what’s going on… but I let my intuition take
over and instantly decided to help the latter.
“Get down!”
One skill that I usually used came to mind. As if moving from one
dimension to another, I closed the gap of about 100 meters to zero in
an instant, and swung down my large single-edged sword with all my
might.
My unique class was “Sword Saint”, and the skill I just used was
“Skanda”. Even though the system was not working, the acceleration
was still there, and the flash of speed and weight left my hand with the
unpleasant sensation of something cracking and shattering.
I blasted the big man away as lightly as if he were a baseball. The man
rolled for a while, then crashed into a tree and fell down. Naturally, I
had little experience in seriously wielding a weapon against people in
my former world, and I almost felt my knees tremble at what I had
done to the man who had fallen and was twitching. But now was not
the time to be talking about such things, so I put it in the back of my
mind and covered it up.
I look at the other man holding the bow at a distance. Saul held out his
sword to the limit and fired a thunderbolt, which was the skill
“Stunpiercer” of his unique class “Knight Lord”. The enemy archer fell
from the top of the tree with a muffled scream and fell silent. Normally,
that skill was used to catch a target that jumped far away and protect
the rear guard, but it seemed to have more power than that here.
“Calm down, old man, we’re with you.”
I stand between the dazed old man and his two attackers. Inwardly, I
was dripping with cold sweat, but somehow I managed not to show it.
The two remaining men became alert and readied their weapons after
two of their allies were knocked out in the blink of an eye.
“You are…”
“Please stay still, here’s some medicine to treat your wounds.”
“Ah…”
With Saul helping the old man up and handing him the wound medicine
on the side, I stepped out to face the remaining enemies.
The battle ended not long after. It seemed that the in-game stats were
indeed somewhat valid even in this world, and we could still use skills
without any problems, although there were many aspects that need to
be verified. For those of us whose level in the tertiary class had risen to
a certain extent, the enemies weren’t a big deal… except for the
emotional hurdle.
Leaving that matter aside, I turned to the old man we had rescued.
“Old man, you alright there?”
“Sir Swordsman and Sir Knight, I beg of you!”
“Hey, calm down, will you?”
As soon as the battle was over, the old man who had been standing
back grabbed at us with a desperate look.
“T-That girl…! I beg of you, please save that girl…!”
He pleaded to us with a tearful and snot-covered face… but what’s
more important was the word “that girl”. I couldn’t stop feeling a chill
down my spine.
To sum up, the first thing I heard was that it was definitely Iris who had
been captured.
The first thing I felt when I heard all this was immense anger.
“…Bastard, how dare you?!”
In a fit of anger, I grabbed the old man by the collar and tightened it
around his neck. I was tempted to strangle him to death, but then a
hand gently stopped me, and I reluctantly loosened my grip.
“Calm down, Reiji. I know you’re angry, but we can’t waste time taking
out your anger on him. Save that for later.”
“But, because of this asshole…!”
Saul had a point. But this shithead we saved was actually the one who
betrayed Yanagi… Iris, for his selfish end.
That being said, my voice, about to continue, instantly cooled down
when I saw the expression on Saul’s face next to mine.
Saul walked up to the man lying on his back under the tree that I had
just blown away, and swung his sword down mercilessly, without a
shred of hesitation. Immediately, blood spurted out like a geyser, and
before it could stain the surroundings, the sword was swung three
more times at the remaining living ones in the same manner.
He ”disposed of” four men before the blood could even stick to his
clothes.
“Sorry, but it would be a problem if these guys wake up later and get in
our way again. Your name is Scott, isn’t it? We’ll save her. Lead the
way.”
“…Y-Yes… This way, please…”
Saul’s sagacious face, set against a bright red snowy landscape, was
completely devoid of expression, and only his eyes were glazed with a
murderous intent.
However, I couldn’t even think of blaming my old friend for his sudden
and heinous act. In fact, I felt unworthy of myself for having let Saul,
who was a girl inside, do it. Honestly, I wanted to do it. I’ve never felt
such rage, such a desire to kill so much, that I would have never
thought of it in my former world. That’s right. It’s not this old man that I
want to take my anger out on, it’s the people who kidnapped Iris.
I didn’t even have time to keep up with the old man’s pace. I carried
him on my shoulder like a sack of rice and start running as fast as I
could, relying on his directions and leftover footprints.
“Wait for me, Iris, I’ll save you… so please, stay safe.”
Before I knew it, the trembling from fear of hurting someone of my
own volition had stopped.
(Author’s Note)
These two are seriously pissed, and all hesitation against killing people
are temporarily turned off.
Part 2
Reiji
(Timeskip to post-Chapter 11)
My gut was churning with anger. Iris was held down on a table, her
cheek swollen from abuse and her whole body covered with painful
scars. It’s hard to say that we’d made it in time, but the last line before
things truly became irreversible, was barely safe, such was the critical
timing of our arrival.
“Don’t be afraid, you idiots! If they’re here to save the hostage, just
kill…”
“That’s not happening.”
Saul’s skill, “Invisible Shield”, deployed an invisible barrier around the
fallen Iris. Immediately after, the window shattered into dust with a
rumbling sound. The man who had been holding Iris down was forced
to release her and cover his head against the rain of shrapnel.
The next moment, Saul jumped in through the window and attacked.
He tore off the neck of a bandit on his left, while avoiding the impact of
his landing by spinning, and the moment he stopped spinning, he
immediately lunged forward and stabbed another in the heart as he
passed by.
Saul, who had mortally wounded two men in the blink of an eye,
quickly threw his shoulder cloak, which he had apparently removed
beforehand, over Iris’ naked body.
“Force Shield!”
Saul thrust his shield into the floor, piercing the stone floor beneath,
and a wall was erected to protect Iris. This was another of the Knight
Lord’s skills that generated a force field around the user’s shield.
Although it had the massive drawback of giving up the shield, which
could become fatal to the tank position, it was the most solid defense
for important allies, and now the enemies around him could no longer
touch Iris.
When we raided this hideout, we had already ascertained from the
light we saw that Iris’s location was a room on the second floor. While I
charged head-on to get the attention of everyone inside, Saul moved in
from another direction to rescue Iris from the enemies.
It was a feat of strength that could hardly be called a plan, but the quick
action, which could only be described as remarkable, made one wonder
if this Saul guy was really a tank. Anyway, our biggest concern, which
was Iris’ safety, had been dealt with, so there’s no need to worry about
it anymore.
“Now no one can escape. Every single one of you, who have injured and
humiliated my Iris… don’t ever think of leaving this place alive.”
“And don’t even try to beg for forgiveness either…!”
The cruelty done to Iris earlier was seared in my eyes, and even now, a
new rage was welling up in me. At this moment, there was neither
hesitation nor mercy in the hands that hold the weapons, and to
dissipate this anger, we both leapt furiously at the bandits whom we
had set our sights on.
Our surrounding quickly became a hellscape. Every time Saul’s sword
flashed, fresh blood started dancing, and screams of despair rose up. As
we had declared, we had no intention of letting any of those people
escape. While Saul targeted the enemies who were trying to flee, I cut
down anyone who even showed a shred of resistance.
The reasonably sized room became a pool of blood, and the number of
live people inside went down, one by one.
“What the hell are you doing, they’re just two guys!! Goddammit, why
does this happen out of nowhere?! Iris…? Ah shit, she’s that rumored
‘Princess’, isn’t she?!”
Something improbable came out of the bandit ringleader’s mouth.
The name “Princess” was supposed to be some kind of nickname
imposed by the game’s official developers. Why did someone from this
world know about it…? Did the events of the game affect this world or
something…?
“Looks like I fucked up big time… Should have killed that walking bomb
instead of trying to play with her… Uooooooh!!”
The enemy ringleader suddenly stood up and charged at me with a
rusty sword in his hand, but he’s too late.
My sword was enveloped in the dazzling light of my fighting spirit.
I lightly ducked below the path of the opponent’s sword, and as he
passed by, I gave him a shallow cut to the side of his stomach. It looked
like a minor wound… but that’s all I needed.
“You’re already dead.”
“What the hell are you talking about- GYAAAAAAAAH?!”
The fighting spirit I left within the wound I had just reaped gushed out.
His abdomen swollen up and exploded in a flash, turning his body into
chunks of flesh scattering everywhere.
“B-Boss!!”
“W-We surrender! Just spare our lives, please!”
The people around him began to sit up and beg for forgiveness at the
sight of his gruesome death. I had heard that there was a method of
destroying the spirit of the enemies by cruelly disposing of one of them,
and it seemed that I had unknowingly demonstrated such an effect by
striking with maximum force in anger.
I felt nauseous at the sight of these bandits.
“…Fine.”
A moment of relief passed in the air as I muttered so. However…
“Only those who stopped when she told you to stop would be spared.”
The surrounding froze with my next words.
Of course, there’s no way anyone like that existed in this group, and I
wasn’t going to bother checking each and every one of them.
Thinking that I must be looking really dangerous right now, I coldly cut
down all those who were still trying to make excuses, those who were
trying to pin the blame on others, and those who were trying to escape,
all together, in order.
It took less than five minutes to clean up everything.
I wrapped Iris, who was still sleeping, in my cloak in addition to Saul’s so
she didn’t get cold. The poncho I had found earlier, which I thought
belonged to Iris, did not look too dirty or damaged, so I picked it up as
well.
When I carried her body, she felt as light as a feather, as if she would
break at the slightest touch, and it pained me to think of how much
torture she must have endured.
It was at this point that I finally managed to calm down and started
feeling terrible about the way I had been acting, even killing people in
cold blood. I couldn’t help but feel frightened at the idea of me, an
ordinary person until just yesterday, had acquired the power to kill
people so easily in just a few moments.
But when I felt the weight and warmth of the girl breathing in my arms,
taking out a gang of bandits seemed trivial in comparison.
Without my current power, surely we would have lost her forever.
“Aaaah… young miss, making you hurt so badly… it’s my fault… it’s my
fault…”
Old man Scott, who had been waiting outside, collapsed when he saw
Iris sleeping in my arm.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it, we managed to save her from the worst
of it… You have our thanks.”
“No! I don’t deserve your gratitude… I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”
The old man’s lamentations did not stop, but from the way he was
wailing, there was no doubt that he was concerned about Iris. Before I
knew it, my anger at the old man had dissipated, and when I looked at
Saul, he simply shook his head.
If this is the case, the rest is all up to Iris, not up to us.
“Pardon my impudent request but… there’re more girls captured by
those people in the basement, could you help them out as well?”
The old man, now calmed down, told us about the girls who had been
kidnapped from the nearby towns. Maybe some of them were from
that town we were sent to.
“…Of course, please show us the way.”
“Follow me.”
He then led us to a horrible-looking basement. The air reeked of mold,
blood, and carnal desire, so nasally that we couldn’t breathe properly.
Some of the equipment inside was clearly intended “for that purpose”,
and in one corner, in a cage that was probably intended for animals,
several young women were sitting frozen and trembling.
“…I have no words for this.”
Various traces of the bandits’ deeds were left on the women’s bodies.
Some were badly bruised and scarred, some had deformed limbs, and
some were even missing body parts. A crushing fear grew in my heart
that if we had been late, Iris would have been among these people.
If Iris had been awake, she would have been able to heal the injuries,
but there was no way I’d wake her up when she looked so pale and
exhausted right now. I decided to leave it to Saul, whose eyes seemed
to tell me, “I’ll take care of it”. If the other party was a woman, he was
probably more attentive than I was, and it wasn’t something I was
supposed to look at anyway. Granted, both of us were in men’s bodies
now.
The old man and I would stand guard outside the door while Saul
destroyed the cage locks and any shackles or restraints he found.
“So, what do we do with these girls?”
“Let’s go back to town and inform the mayor, he’ll send people to pick
everyone up…”
“But we can’t just leave these girls alone, can we?”
It might sound heartless, but our first priority was Iris and only Iris, and
we really wanted to get her out of here as soon as possible and settle
down, for the sake of hygiene. Once we found an inn or somewhere we
could rest, we wouldn’t hesitate to report and get help afterward…
“Then let me stay back and take care of them.”
“…Are you sure about that? They probably like you as much as they like
those bandits.”
“I can’t blame them. It was me who turned a blind eye when these girls
were tortured or worse, and if they wanted to beat me up or kill me for
it, I think that’s a crime I should be willing to pay for.”
Seeing the old man so prepared, I didn’t have to say anything more.
“I see… Then this place is now yours. We’ll come back to pick you up as
soon as possible.”
“Yes, I’m leaving the young miss in your care.”
“That’s a given. You, too, must live to apologize to her.”
“Understood.”
I met up with Saul, who applied simple treatments to the women,
headed back the way we came, and returned to that first town.
Just like we expected, the town was also a victim of the bandits’ raid.
When we reported the bandits’ subjugation and the missing women,
the mayor thanked us and dispatched a group of men to pick them up.
As part of their gratitude, we were able to rent a room as our lodging.
Iris… didn’t wake up until three days later.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Reiji

When I first met him, he was just some strange guy I hadn’t seen
before, and that’s it.
He was recently transferred from another hospital to the local one in
my neighborhood, where he was hospitalized because of his broken
legs.
I was too busy strolling around the hospital and happened to enter that
guy’s room, and my first impression of him was that he was kind of like
a girl.
What bugged me was that the whole time, he was staring blankly
somewhere in the distance, not moving his face even a twitch.
I tried talking to him, he just gave me a small nod, not even hiding his
total lack of interest. Being the kid I was at the time, I spent every day
afterward trying to make him laugh, or at least pique his interest.
“That kid’s had a rough time. He absolutely doesn’t trust anyone else,
especially adults… But maybe he’ll open up to somebody of his age.”
Said my grandpa when he came to visit me in the hospital.
Turned out, that strange guy was the grandson of my grandpa’s
acquaintance.
Eventually, I got to befriend his little sister, who often came to the
hospital for that guy. As an only child, I felt like I had a sister of my own,
which honestly wasn’t a bad feeling.
My new daily life went on like this, until one day, I saw a group of adults
that I didn’t see around here coming in with their rather bulky cameras.
I sneakily followed them to see if they were some kind of bad folks, and
as soon as they entered that guy’s room… I heard a scream.
I jumped in impatiently and saw him shrinking and trembling at the
edge of the bed, and his sister clinging to him threateningly. And then
there were the guys grinning at them and pointing their cameras and
microphones at me with ugly looks on their faces.
It was obvious that that guy was scared of those adults. I was so angry
that I started hitting them with the crutches in my hand.
Before I knew it, the men were gone, and I got a lot of scolding from
the hospital staff. My parents and grandpa were quite mad at me as
well, but in the end, they praised me with a “Well done”, which made
me really proud.
The next day, that guy started responding properly when I talked to
him.
Me, him, and his little sister would watch the TV together in the
common room or explore the hospital together.
On the day I was discharged from the hospital, they were both crying so
hard that I cried myself, to everyone else’s chagrin… So when I saw him
and his sister pushing his wheelchair the following month, accompanied
by the old man who lived in the very large house next door, we all
laughed and wondered what it was that we had cried together that
time.
That guy’s grandpa used to be angry about his son’s adamant decision
to marry an unidentified foreign girl he had picked up from somewhere,
so much that he disowned his own son.
He only came to regret it when the son and his wife were killed by an
armed robber without his knowledge, and rushed to pick up his
grandchildren, who were this brother and sister, when the new finally
arrived to him long after the death.
And that’s why the two siblings, who had lost their parents, were taken
in by their grandparents to live here.
I’d gained two new friends, and we were together more often than not.
Even though many people looked at him strangely because of his
peculiar appearance, his inability to move his lower body and his
anthropophobia, I was the one who mediated, quarreled and even got
into fight to defend him.
I’m absolutely sure that I thought of that guy as a friend, but now that I
think about it, I’d always had some sense of superiority in me at the
time whenever it’s about “protecting him”.
This situation changed during our freshman year of high school. By this
time, his fear of other people was getting worse, and although we had
gone to high school together, we had less and less contact with each
other.
First his grandmother died. Then his grandfather died in quick
succession.
My family helped with the funeral, as we knew it would be difficult for
two kids to handle, and I didn’t see him again for a few months after
that.
Then… he suddenly dropped out of high school and disappeared
without telling me why. Feeling betrayed, I cut off contact with him in a
fit of rage. We became estranged for an entire year.
“Reiji! Hey Reiji, come take a look!”
Shortly after the new year, I heard his voice for the first time in a long
while in a very excited tone. I still harbored bad feelings for him, but
reluctantly went to see him anyway…
He proudly showed me a paperback book as if it was the result of a
successful prank.
“Illustrator: Kuga Yanagi”
I rubbed my eyes a few times at the letters, and asked him “What’s
this?” in bewilderment.
According to him, he’d wanted to be independent since his
grandparents died.
His grandparents were well-known landowners, and in their later years,
they converted their land rights into gold, except for the area around
the barrier-free house (so that a disabled person like him could freely
move around the place) where he and his sister lived, and left it to
them as inheritance, so they should not have any problems for a while.
But that guy was looking for a job he could do to minimize his reliance
on his inherited wealth as much as possible.
So he turned to his hobby of painting, which he had originally done
while he was a shut-in, and after various works posted on the internet,
he finally received an offer to make illustrations for a book.
In an embarrassed tone, he admitted that he wanted me to be the first
person to see the book on the day it was published.
When he said he wanted to leave as much inheritance as possible for
his sister, he looked stronger than any person without a handicap on
their body, and I felt absolutely defeated.
I guess this was the first time I recognized him as an equal in my mind.
After we reconciled and reestablished our friendship, he and his sister
invited me to play a game with them, a certain “Worldgate Online”.
I was speechless when I saw their avatars in the game for the first time
two months after starting late, and when his sister told me with a
mischievous expression that their contents had been exchanged, I was
completely crestfallen to see him next to her looking so dainty and
embarrassed.
Seven years had passed since then.
Through in-game communications, that guy was invited to join Arks VR
Technology, and from time to time I would see his illustration in the
game.
On my end, I graduated from high school, entered college and worked
my way up to a master’s degree, and his sister also attended the college
I was studying in… Throughout these years, we’d been on adventures
together.
Sometimes the three of us would be added to a raid party and fight to
the death against a mighty raid boss.
Sometimes we would butt heads and engage in heated discussions,
sometimes we would challenge each other recklessly.
…And somehow, I found myself becoming a top-level player.
Then… an update earlier this year forced us to move on without him.
But that guy caught up with us much sooner than expected, and we
were finally able to get back to our original trio…
We’d have many adventurers together again. Yes, our relationship
would continue as before, as I’d always hoped… we’d always hoped.
“Saul, Reiji, something’s happening…!”
“What’s going on there?!”
“Onii-chan, calm down and tell me!”
“Let go of m-”
“Hey, you alright?! Hey?!”
The noise coming from behind me, and the muffled anguish sent chills
down my spine. The painful voice that shouldn’t be possible in this
game, where the sense of pain was almost nullified.
“What’s wrong?! Answer me! Dammit, what the hell’s happening
here?!”
“Onii-chan?! Answer me, please!”
Around us, the players collapsed one by one and disappeared.
The sky, or rather the space itself, turned red, and soon the noise
became worse, and the ground was gradually consumed by darkness.
“Ha, hahaha… This joke isn’t funny.”
The situation was so absurd that I could no longer do anything but
laugh.
I was swallowed by something that looked like a magic circle appeared
above and below my feet… and my consciousness went dark.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris/Yanagi

Very little memory remained of the incident.
All I could remember was my parents getting stabbed when trying to
protect me and my sister, by a robber to suddenly broke into our home,
then I myself was stabbed, as the final line of defense for my sister.
The targeting was just a coincidence, apparently.
Later on, the police told me that the assailant had lost himself in
drinking and gambling and just happened to rob a house he saw.
For such a reason… I had my most important thing taken away from me
because of “bad luck”. I could never accept such a thing.
The next time I woke up, the lower half of my body had become
immobile. It seemed that the blade had injured my spine.
Since that day, whenever I saw a stranger, I began to fear that I might
be attacked the next moment, and eventually I was unable to continue
going to school.
The only place I could find solace was the game.
But that dreamlike realm had become my new reality.
“Yo, finally awake huh, ‘Sleeping Princess’?”
“…Eek!”
I was instantly woken up by a dirty face right in front of me and the
choking smell of boozy breath.
I instinctively raised my leg to shoo the man in front of me away, only
to be stopped by the metallic rattling sound and the feel of a metal ring
around my ankle.
For some reason, I was unrestrained except for my legs, but my arms
didn’t move at all when I tried to push the man’s body back.
“Hey, act more like a prince, will ya?”
“Then how about this? Princess, I’ve come to steal you away.”
“That’s no good either, dumbass. Look, our Princess here is so scared!”
I was completely surrounded by the sound of the men making gleefully
at their own stupid and crass jokes.
With my head in turmoil and my vision unable to move as much as I
would like due to my prone position, I looked around and see the worst
of the situation: I had been brought into what looked like a worn-down
room somewhere.
The smell of dust, mold, sweat and male odor was unbearable to my
nose. I was lying on what looked like a low table, covered with stains I
didn’t even want to touch, surrounded by filthy men, who looked like
bandits no matter how I looked at them. All of them were looking at me
with lustful eyes, as dirty as the rest of their appearance.
Looking back at myself, I was not wearing my cloak, which might have
been stripped off when I was unconscious, and the way my legs were
chained made them spread a little. I was almost relieved for a moment
to see that the rest of my clothes was still intact-
“Alright guy, let’s get started!”
“I’ve been waiting for this!”
“Good lord, I’ve been barely able to contain myself. Just look at her, I’ve
seen anyone like that before!”
Looks like they were fired up after their boss’ words.
“What do you mean by ‘get started’?”
That was, the most stupid line ever, to be spoken in such a situation.
Immediately, I regretted saying it. It was obvious, wasn’t it? I was now
in the form of a pretty girl, different from the world I was in before.
However, I wasn’t thinking straight anymore, and just said it because I
had an impossible desire to see it not happen to me.
“Ahahaha, what are you talking about? Is this your first time or
something?”
“It should be a given, right?”
“Come on, guys, cut her some slack. She’s just a naïve princess.”
Amidst the clamor of the men, the ringleader stroked my cheek with a
disgusting hand. The touch made my back foam and I felt nauseous.
“Actually, I was going to sell her off somewhere else.”
The word “sell off” made my shoulders tremble.
Slave trading, a word I probably had no connection to in my former
home in Japan, flashed through my mind.
Around my stomach, my robe was being unbuttoned slowly by the
ringleader, one by one.
“Surely, this girl would fetch us a high price… But you’re a high-ranking
healer, am I correct, girl? Soooo, we’ve decided what we would make a
much better profit if we just enjoyed ourselves right here, then keep
you as a slave and ‘sell’ your ‘service’ to whoever asks for it… Sounds
reasonable enough?”
The front of my robe, with all its buttons undone, was opened,
revealing the blouse and skirt underneath. Suddenly, amidst the cheers
of the enthusiastic group of bandits, the man’s hands were placed on
the collar of the blouse and…
How many hours had passed since then?
It did not take long for the torment, which was initially inflicted as a
punishment for fighting back, to change to the point that it became the
purpose of admiring a slender girl’s body and opening her wounded
heart, using “she could heal it anyway” as an excuse for hurting a
treasure that would normally be untouchable.
My body, which had originally been in a state of frenzy despite my lack
of physical strength, was now exhausted from the exertion, and I
remained limp, unable to move except for the occasional jerking of my
limbs, which I would sometimes do regardless of my will.
My innocent white skin, which used to be so beautiful, was now
painfully swollen with cruel scars all over my body, my shining hair was
tangled and unraveled in some places, and there were even bruises on
some parts of my body where I was beaten for fun.
The last defense of my barely untouched innocence was stripped away
just a few minutes ago, and at this rate it will only be a matter of time
before it was taken away from me… But that no longer mattered now.
I’m so tired. The will to resist of my battered body had been mercilessly
crushed.
This was just painful, agonizing, sickening, and painful. Wouldn’t it be
easier to just give up consciousness, let go of everything, and become a
doll? Yes, I should do that. There was no way that I could fall asleep
here and wake up in my usual room, back to my usual everyday life…
Come to think of it, I wonder how Ayame and Reiji are doing…
Did they get sent to this world as well…?
If that’s the case, I dearly hope that those two will never get hurt,
because if they get hurt in this world, I can no longer be around to fix
them up anymore…
I.Can.Never.Meet.Them.Again.Anymore…?
…I hate it.
Hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Tears welled up in my eyes, and my throat, which I thought was dry,
screamed again.
All this time, I was thinking.
That I was only getting in the way of the two of them.
Both Ayame and Reiji were very talented at their age, and I’d always
thought that if they were freed from the burden called me, they would
be able to fly even higher.
But it wasn’t until I was in this lousy situation that I finally realized that I
really didn’t have to give up like that.
I wanted to go back. I still wanted to be with them.
No matter how I did it, I just wanted to get out of this situation.
In response to such a will, a dazzling light shot out from my back in an
almost reckless way. The brilliance of resistance, restored at the last
minute, instantly turned the room white. It burned the eyes of those
who had just been staring and grinning at me a while ago, and the
feathers of light that danced around the room soaked into my
exhausted body when they touched it, and although I was far from my
full strength, I felt a slight revival of strength in my body.
As a last stand, I pushed away the man who was just about to climb on
top of me. The hand accidentally pressed on the ringleader’s face,
which was on my chest, and the ringleader, blinded by the sudden light
and caught off guard, was unable to evade it… With a squishing sound, I
felt my fingertip punctured and crushed something soft and moist.
“Gyaaaaah?! My eye, my eye!”
It seemed that my finger accidentally struck the eye socket and crushed
one of the ringleader’s eyes. Faster than I could recognize it, I
reflexively gouged it out. A sickening sensation followed my finger, but
there was a slight gap between the ringleader, whose body was pulled
back from me by the pain, and the men around him, who were frozen
by the sudden event.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
I just wanted to do whatever’s possible for me at the moment. Driven
by fear, I poured all my magical power into summoning “Divine Spear”.
My head ached like a cancer, my nausea was terrible, and my body was
losing strength like water in a bucket with a hole in it, but I unleashed
the spears with all the strength I had, knowing that if I did not do it
now, I would only meet despair for the rest of my life.
The countless spears of light that radiated in all directions without
aiming, even ignoring the limitations of the game, pierced the men,
rendering some of them comatose, but…
“This damn bitch!”
Unfortunately, none of them hit the ringleader, who was closest to me.
I was hit in the face with great force. My mouth started tasting blood,
as if the inside had been cut open. The pain and shock almost knocked
me unconscious, but I clenched my lips and held on.
…This world had already become my new reality.
I was helplessly a girl now, and if I gave up here, it would surely go past
the point of no return.
More than anything else… those two would regret not staying by my
side.
Especially Ayame… she usually had a strong bravado, but deep down,
she was ridden with regrets because of my injuries. I didn’t want her to
feel that pain anymore.
Besides, even if I disappeared here, I was sure those two would try
desperately to find me. Surely, those two would eventually form a
strong relationship together.
That’s why, in this harsh world of reality, if they were to get hurt in the
midst of it. If their lives were in danger. Just thinking about it sent chills
down my spine. I wish I would be with them at this moment.
Remember it, me! What was the most important thing in a recovery
job?! Wasn’t it to never give up, more than anyone else, until the very
last moment?!
“Hey, you’ve got some interesting properties here, for a mere
‘merchandise’… After messing you up as hard as I can, I’ll be sure to
make you a slave until the day you die… What the?!”
The man moved again to attack me, but this time, his fist was blocked
by a small barrier… “Solid Ray”, a formation of hexagons, conjured by
my will.
“Impossible… not even a chant?!”
“I won’t lose… to the likes of you!”
My exhausted body was barely held together by sheer force of will.
The desire to disappear quietly, somewhere out of the way, had always
been in a corner of my mind. But now…
“We would adventure together, right…?! We made a promise, didn’t
we…?!”
It was a simple promise.
But with those words as support, a strong desire burnt within me. I was
afraid, my wounded heart was still screaming endlessly. But more than
that.
I wanted to go back. To that place. Between the two people I cherished.
My back was burning hot. Something was meshing in my body, the
knowledge that was avalanching into my brain.
“’Sanctuary’… deploy!”
Instantly, the wings fluttered around me connected the light to form a
dome-shaped geometric pattern. The nearby men were repelled by the
newly-formed dome.
“What the hell is that?! Quickly, surround and tear it apart!”
“It’s no use! Nothing we do gets through it!”
It seemed I managed to keep them at bay… However, this was by no
means an attack, and even while I was buying time like this, my
remaining magical power was dwindling by the minute. There’s not
much time left to maintain the barrier. If it broke, I would have no
power left to resist, for real this time…
Don’t worry, just keep it going to the limit.
As my consciousness began to fade, I thought I heard a voice. I thought
I saw something white at the edge of my vision, but I was too busy
trying to maintain the barrier.
One minute… two minutes… This was the end. The feathers on my back
lost their luster and melted into the air as particles, and the “Sanctuary”
fleetingly vanished.
“Heh, hehe, what a shame, now I’m sure you aren’t going to pull
another trick on us again.”
My body, which had lost its protection, was once again held down by
the table. I stared at the ringleader, who had lost one eye and focusing
his entire hatred on the remaining one, with determination not to give
up until the very end.
The door to the room’s exit… no, the entire wall along with it, was
blown open before my eyes with a roar, as if a cliff had collapsed in
front of me.
“Just in time… Well, not really, considering what I’m seeing here.”
Emerging from the cloud of dust was a tall young man with fiery red
hair… a figure I knew really well.
“Who on earth are you?!”
He half-dodged sideways to avoid the attack of a bandit who leapt at
him angrily, grabbed his head unceremoniously, and, with a soggy, wet
sound, slammed it to the ground to silence him.
After a strange moan from the downed bandit, there was no signs of
movement again. The remaining men backed away from the newcomer
as if frightened by a horrific sight, though it was impossible for me to
tell what happened to the first bandit, since he was lying out of sight.
“This girl’s my close friend, so stop whatever you’re doing to her, okay?
I don’t really like these bruteforce situation… but I’ll pay you all back for
this, with great interests.”
The very familiar voice, aloof but with an anger inside that I had never
heard before. And the figure that seemed so familiar to me, even
though we parted only a short time ago.
“Sorry, we’re late… But it’s alright now, just rest easy.”
“Ah… what took you so long… idiot…”
My friend, whom I’d shared countless adventures with in the game,
whom I relied on more than anyone else… After hearing Reiji’s voice, I
was overcome with relief, and my consciousness sank into darkness,
feeling one last drop of water on my cheek.
(Author’s Note)
“Sanctuary”
This is the so-called trump card skill of the Lightwing race, boasting a
cooldown of several days.
It’s the ultimate protection magic, completely shutting out malicious
opponents, and deploying a barrier around a 3-meter square area that
heals the injuries and magical power of others inside at a tremendous
rate. However, the amount of magic power required to maintain it is
terribly high.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris/Yanagi

I drank several bottles of magic water to replenish my lost magic
power, and probably about an hour had passed by my experience.
It was when I felt healthy enough to return to the original path I
walked… that I noticed numerous footsteps coming toward me from
that very same path.
Emerging from the depths of the forest were men, each of them poorly
armed and of an appearance that at first glance did not suggest a
decent occupation.
It was already too late to turn on my heel and run away in the swarthy
atmosphere, and the other side appeared as if it had known of my
presence from the beginning, and the road leading to the street was
blocked in the blink of an eye.
“Heh, you really are a beautiful young lady, miss. Mind if you ‘heal’ us a
bit?”
The bald-headed man who seemed to be their boss spoke up, as if he
had already known me.
“How did you know…?”
“Yeah, about that…”
The man’s face contorted into an ugly grin, like a beast tormenting its
prey.
“This fellow here confessed everything, correct?”
He slapped on someone else’s back and pushed him into the front.
I didn’t want to believe it. I had come to this world and met only one
person, and there couldn’t be any others.
“No… You must be joking… right?”
He… sold me out?
Scott-san looked at me apologetically. I turned away from his gaze as
soon as our eyes met.
“I’m really sorry, miss…”
Blood rushed to my head.
“Silence! I don’t want to… hear anything from you!”
I shook my long hair and began chanting with my staff at the ready.
The four spears of light that appeared were a sign of my rejection.
“Kuh…!”
My body creaked from the recoil, and another four spears were fired.
However, it was difficult to simultaneously pursue moving targets. Two
of the four spears hit the men, while the other two lost their guidance
and flew away into the void.
But there was no time to be discouraged about missing the target, so I
turned on my heels and retreated.
“Just press on! That light won’t kill you anyway, as long as one of us
catches up, the rest won’t matter!”
I clenched my teeth.
The enemy ringleader was right. My weakness was exposed earlier than
expected.
I kept firing the spears to reduce the opponents’ number and ran
away… but my body strengthening magic I applied to myself only gave
me enough speed to barely buy time even with those weak legs of mine
running with all their might. Still, the difference in physical strength was
significant, and the distance was slowly closing in.
I had already fired three times. The men who were hit by the spear of
light fell down here and there, but looking at the state of these men,
the shortcoming of my attack was obvious.
No matter how powerful it is to knock a person unconscious with a
single blow, “Divine Spear” does not have the power to kill or injure.
The enemy number was still overwhelming.
And on my side, my limbs had been unusually heavy since a while ago.
My throat was in pain.
Even though I was at level 1, my status should have been set much
higher than the initial one, and from the way I felt, I should still have
enough magic power for a few more shots, but already the feeling in
my limbs was beginning to fade away.
“… Lea Lea… Di Viega!”
I tried to fire “Divine Spear” again, but my concentration was
momentarily disrupted by a figure that was much closer than I
expected.
The recoil from “Divine Spear” blew my light body away without mercy,
sending me spinning several times…
“Aaah!”
My back struck a tree hard, squeezing the air out of my lungs. I had to
quickly get up and run away, but my lungs, gasping for oxygen, would
not allow it, and when I barely regained my breath, my pursuers were
right in front of me, their hands outstretched.
Memories of the knife-wielding man flashed in my mind.
The burning pain in my back. The girl crying in my arms as I reassured
her that she’s okay over and over. The disappearing sensation in the
lower half of my body…
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
In my screams, I summoned several spears without chanting and shot
them out randomly, knocking two more men unconscious.
The recoil caused my body to slam against the tree trunk, creaking my
bones. At least I wasn’t blown away again.
“(pants heavily)… It’s no good… I can’t run anymore…”
My limbs lost their strength and I fell helplessly into the snow, unable
to do anything about it.
Ah, I see, is that so.
Something had been tormenting me and inhibiting my movement for a
while now… fatigue.
It was something that I had felt many times during my journey here
since I woke up in this world, but kept deceiving myself with magic.
I should have been more careful. Even though I’d verified that “Divine
Spear” causes an “uncontrollable recoil” to my body, I didn’t even think
about that possibility. I had assumed that “HP” and “MP” were
separate, as in the game, and that they did not affect each other.
The magical backlash that I thought was “a little bit” had unknowingly
struck this slender body many times, saving it from danger, but at the
same time weakening it.
“Hahaha, found you! Do you really think you can get away with this,
you little shit?!”
One of the man caught up to me, grabbed me by the hair, and pulled
me up, but my limbs were no longer able to resist, and I was pushed to
the ground with my hands behind my back. I felt something like a
coarse rope being wrapped around my wrists, scraping my skin like
sandpaper.
I was restrained in a position that reminded me of “that time”, whether
I liked it or not.
Please stop, I don’t want any reminder of that time!
I thought I had been able to forget about it. If I remembered here, I
wouldn’t be able to resist anything anymore. There was only a dark
future ahead.
But… the fear overflowing from the once-opened wounds of the past
quickly took away my will to resist and blackened my consciousness.
Scott
“Young miss, no…”
Her petite body, limp and unmoving, was bound round and round by
the vulgar hands of these men.
The face that had smiled at me then was now as bloodless as snow, and
I could just see her eyes downcast like a doll.
Around me, men were excitedly enjoying the spoils of war and playing
with the unconscious girl’s body. Stunned by the sight, I jumped when I
felt a hand on my shoulder.
“All thanks to you, pal. Be sure to inform us of any treasure like this the
next time, okay?”
Yes, I had sold the young miss to these lowlifes out of selfishness.
I had plunged a lovely, kind-hearted girl who healed me, saved my life,
and shed tears of joy for my survival, into a darkness that had no end in
sight.
I could still remember the look of utter shock on her face. I could only
wonder how betrayed she must have felt when she tearfully refused to
listen to anything…
It would have been much better if I just died to that monster.
Already way past the time for regret, I wandered off on a trail off the
base, feeling so guilty and ashamed that I considered stabbing myself in
the throat with the dagger I had on my person…
“That’s not right… I cannot let her die that easily…”
I have to go get help. Then I must die by that girl’s hands.
With that as my only thought, I began to run, dragging my feet at first,
but eventually, as if driven by something, sprint with all my might.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris/Yanagi

“……Hey…miss, wake up… you hear me…?”
A discreet call and a tap on the cheek with just enough force not to
hurt, and my consciousness slowly rose from the darkness.
I looked up, wondering what it was, and saw a strange uncle’s face right
in front of me.
“!?”
An inarticulate scream rushed from the back of my throat.
“Woah?! Miss, you alright there?!”
The two people who I could always count on to be there for me were
still nowhere to be found!
Reiji, Ayame, where are you?!
In my haste to get away from the stranger in front of me… I seemed to
have accidentally stepped on a wet tree root, and the feeling of the
ground disappeared from under my feet.
“Kyah?!”
Just as I was about to stand up, my slipping body fell backward, and I
plunged headfirst into the still soft snow.
After blinking a few times, I finally remembered why I was here, sticking
my head into the snow as I felt the coldness enveloping my head.
“…Have you cooled down now?”
“Yes, literally… Sorry for causing you trouble…”
I looked away from the bewildered uncle in embarrassment.
“…So, are you the one who fixed me up, miss?”
The stranger, introducing himself as Scott, pointed to a large hole in his
blood-stained clothes and asked. The clothes didn’t magically heal, but
the skin peeking out from underneath was unscathed.
“Thank goodness… you don’t seem to be hurt anymore. How are you
feeling? Any discomfort?”
“All good. I honestly didn’t think I would make it, so you really saved my
life.”
I hurriedly asked Scott-san, who was bowing to me in a deep, down-onhis-
earth posture, to raise his head. I didn’t feel comfortable when an
older person was kneeling before me.
“Though… I honestly think I shouldn’t have survived… That was my
punishment, after all.”
Suddenly, Scott-san looked dark and somber, and appeared to be on
the verge of tears.
“Punishment, you say…?”
“That’s right… You see, I’ve seen a lot of terrible people doing a lot of
terrible things, and I’ve pretended not to see them… I should have been
punished for my inaction…”
“No…”
The person in front of me didn’t look like a bad person.
He had been guarding me when I was unconscious and vulnerable for
ten minutes, and stayed in a certain range away from me because of his
concern for my earlier behavior.
And yet, such a person said, “I shouldn’t have been saved”. If he puts it
that way, we, too, are averse to trouble, and we turn a blind eye to the
“bad things” in front of us a lot.
When I thought of that, I unintentionally took his hand with both of
mine.
“…Please don’t blame yourself, Scott-san. You must have a lot of
regrets all this time, right? I’m sure you’re a better person than you
think you are…”
“But…”
Ah, my hands were shaking. I hoped he didn’t notice. But I was less
distraught than I thought I would be.
“If there’s a next time, you can always try to be brave… As long as
you’re alive… surely, there will be other opportunities to make
amends… so please, don’t say that you should die, okay?”
I held his craggy hand and smiled to cheer him up as best as I could.
I felt a faint pulse from the hand I held. Yes, they were alive. The people
of this world were not NPCs, but human beings with blood in their
veins, who had lived their own lives and had their own problems.
“I’m just glad that you’ve made it and live on.”
Indeed, I, who had only been able to live by being saved by someone
else, was able to save this person.
“…Thank you, miss. From now on, I’ll do my best with the life you’ve
given me. And sorry for showing such a pathetic scene to you, someone
who should be my daughter’s age.”
He let out a chuckle. Looks like the matter had been settled.
“What are you going to do now, miss?”
“Um… there’s a few things I want to do, so I have to get going…”
“I see… It’s only a couple of minutes’ walk to the nearest town, but be
careful and get there early, you don’t want to stay in such a deserted
place any longer. See you.”
And so, leaving me with a warning for my safety, he said his goodbyes
and disappeared deep into the woods.
“…Well then.”
I had to finish my business here. My headache had subsided
considerably, but I was still tormented by a sense of urgency that
something must be done.
Scott
I worked for some lowlife mercenary band… or should I say, “used to
work for”?
These mercenaries were a bunch of thugs in all but name, who ran out
of job after cheating their clients, and turned to banditry in the middle
of nowhere because they couldn’t afford to eat.
I was a scout because of my eyesight and quickness, even though I had
never been good in a fight. I didn’t know how things turned out the way
they did. I should have stayed in the countryside and worked in the
fields all my life, I thought now, but I couldn’t find a way out and ended
up here getting involved in terrible things.
Then I got attacked by a strange monster and had my stomach ripped
open. I thought I was going to die, but an angel appeared before me.
For some reason, when I woke up, there was a beautiful girl sitting
unconscious in front of me, and I was so shocked that I thought my
heart might stop again.
The angel, no, the young miss, was a very nice person. She was scared
of me, a stranger, at first, and when she talked, her hands never
stopped shaking for a moment… as if she were a little girl forcibly
brought in by a bunch of people and treated crudely.
And yet, she listened to my problem and even took my hand and told
me that I was a better person than I thought I was, that she was glad
that I was still alive, with tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. Her
hands were still shaking with fear when she did all that.
But I’m sure even that girl would be disillusioned if she knew the truth.
And for not telling her because of my fear, I still remained a horrible
person.
So at the very least, I have to lead those bastards somewhere else so
that the young lady can get out safely. To do that, I needed to change
my clothes… If I dressed like this, I’d end up bringing those bastards the
treasure called “the priestess who can bring even the dying back to
life”.
Not only that, but she was a really pretty girl, and no matter how I
looked at her, she seemed to be an aristocrat or a lady of some nice
place.
If I incurred those people’s wrath, who knew what kind of hell would be
waiting for me… I’m sure there were spare clothes in the cabin down
the road.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing away from your post?”
The voice behind my back freaked me out. Dammit, the footprints were
still there…!
“Hmm… you look like you’ve seen some shit… Spew out everything you
know. If you lie to me, I’m sure you know what happens next…”
The long sword brushed against my cheek.
I…
Iris/Yanagi
“Woah…”
In the middle of the forest, a small space with crystals growing in a
circle suddenly appeared from the ground.
There was no snow around these parts, creating a fantastic landscape
that looked like a different world…
“This must be the ‘Wound Of The World’…”
Yes, this view was similar to the place called “Wound Of The World” in
the game, where high-level raid bosses and dungeons spawned.
Though, the scenery in the game was much larger than this.
Once in a while, these “Wounds” opened in the world and various
threats emerged from the other worlds… that was how it’s supposed to
be set up, which meant this place was actually on the verge of
becoming another world.
“Why is it in such a place… hyah?!”
As soon as I took a step, the wings on my back revealed themselves
without me being aware of it.
Knowledge that instantly flooded from the back of my brain. It was as if
I were remembering something I had forgotten… or as if the installation
was complete at this very moment.
“Ugh… I think I kind of know what to do now…”
Wandering around, I walked up to the center of the space, which was
no more than 10 meters in diameter.
As I was led, I held up both hands, and a crack in the space, the main
body of the “Wound of the World” appeared between my hands.
It hurts.
It’s painful.
Help. Help. Help.
I felt as if the world itself was screaming directly at me.
The three pairs of light wings on my back gently embraced the crack
that was the root of the pain.
In my arms, I could hear something that was not a person crying out in
pain, something that until now I could only recognize as pain.
So this is why I was called here.
I heard the voice that called for my help.
I began to sing.
The lyrics themselves were nothing special, just a well-known lullaby
back in my old world… but through these wings it becomes a spirit of
speech, clothed in healing power, and permeated the “Wound” like
patting a child on the back, soothing it.
The crack in my arm slowly filled in little by little, as I felt something
slipping out of my body with the most tremendous force I had ever felt
since I was sent to this world… Eventually, that feeling disappeared, and
so did the cries for help.
My strength in the lower body was so drained that I sat down on the
spot.
However, before I knew it, the space was overgrown with grass, softly
accepting me as I had lost my strength.

(Author’s Note)
The protagonist often collapsed. Fortunately, Iris didn’t lose
consciousness this time.
The song is the famous Schubert lullaby. Don’t ask me for the full lyrics.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris/Yanagi
I couldn’t just sit here stunned forever, so I started to get myself
cleaned up.
I was currently wearing only a thin one-piece dress, not even any
underwear. At this rate, I would soon be deprived of body heat and
unable to move.
Since the menu didn’t appear like how it used to be in the game, I had
to put on the clothes in order myself, but that’s not the problem.
I had planned to change into the “Rookie Priestess Dress” after the
reincarnation event, so I brought it along with me. This outfit was also
the one “Iris” wore the most times in the “Worldgate Online”
illustrations I had drawn several times. Because I had described it in
detail in the setting materials, I was familiar with its structure.
…
It seemed I had underestimated the complexity and hassle of girls’
clothing.
Out came the set of costumes, which in the game was a set of three or
four icons for all the parts of the body, and when all the components
were taken out, they were like a small mountain.
Besides, although I could move my legs and feet more freely than in my
original body, I was still affected by the lameness of my lower body.
I might be able to stand and walk somehow with this body, but I wasn’t
sure I could perform any other actions.
Since I could not balance myself, I had to sit down and change my
clothes, but I was hesitant to sit directly on the floor of the ruins with
my naked body without underwear, so I laid a mattress I took out of my
bag on the floor. This was one of the things my sister made me carry as
part of my “girl’s etiquette”, but I was thankful for it in this case.
Sitting on the mattress, I slipped one leg through my underwear at a
time. At first I thought it was such a small piece of cloth, but when I put
it on, the feel of the comfortable fabric that fits snugly against my skin
makes me feel secure, as if I was being protected, and something in me
as a former man was being whittled away.
Next up… was the bra. I picked it up and wondered whether I should
wear it or not…
In the end, considering I had to walk after this, I decided to wear the
bra.
Then I took out a pair of black tights. In the game, they had an effect of
mitigating cold air damage, and as expected, there would be no such
effect here.
I put them on while still sitting down, thinking that they would be of
some comfort. This was very difficult.
Next was the slip that got caught on my finger… I was a little concerned
about whether this was also necessary, but my “charming” underwear
in the game was delicate and seemed to be easily damaged in reality,
so I wore the slip on just in case… I didn’t know when I’d be able to get
replacement underwear, and I wanted to avoid unnecessary wear and
tear.
After this much clothing, I finally got to work on the actual outfit. I was
extremely tired at this stage. I was forced to bear in mind that dressing
a girl was really a time-consuming and laborious task.
I put on a sleeveless blouse and a skirt combined with frilly panniers.
The skirt was quite high above the knees, but the layers of frills made it
difficult to see my underwear.
Then I put on my robe over them. I thought I would have a hard time
fixing my long hair that had gotten caught in the robe, but it slipped out
of the robe and fell out of my hands without much effort, and I was
unexpectedly impressed.
The light cream-colored, knee-length robe, embroidered in places with
gold thread, was longer than the skirt worn underneath, but had four
slits around the waist, where the frills of the pannier peeked out.
The two rows of buttons on the front were fastened tightly, and the
waist was finished by adjusting the waistband with a ribbon at the back
of the waist.
With a hand mirror, I checked to see if I was properly dressed.
The tightly buttoned blouse and the robe worn over it gave the
impression of a neat priestess, but the fluffy frills visible in places
softened the stiff atmosphere and gave me a cute and gorgeous look.
Lastly, a pair of short boots with thick soles, slightly above the ankles
and with a length that takes field work into consideration, and I was
ready to go.
I stood up and spun around on the spot to see if there was anything
odd about the place, and the skirt fluttered up to follow the movement.
…This is a bad idea. Regardless of how I felt when it was still a game,
when I actually had to wear it in real life, I felt shocked by its “cuteness
over practicality” design.
Suddenly feeling embarrassed, I quickly put on my cold-weather gear…
a hooded poncho or something… and left the room.
When I stepped outside, the cold air immediately stung my skin.
Fortunately, the cold was not unbearable, as it was just as cold as when
snow began to accumulate at this time of the year.
I pulled out a moderately ornately decorated staff, slightly longer than I
was, with a few gems scattered around it and a clinking gold ring.
Although it looked great, its performance was below the mid-level at
best, and its appearance was transferred from another piece of gear
from the time it was a game. Nevertheless, it was more than enough
for me, who was probably at level 1.
I shook it to try it out, but I didn’t feel any discomfort. It seemed that I
could use it without any problem.
I lightly released “Divine Spear” at the lowest output. It was probably
one of the only few ways to protect myself, so I wanted to get a feel for
its performance.
The result was… with the loss of the system assistance, the homing
function was lost, and I found that if the target was not firmly acquired
by the user until the moment of impact, it would fly somewhere on an
unstable trajectory, like a missile that has lost sight of its target.
There was a cooldown between shots, but it was fired instantly just like
before. The difference was that I now felt a slight, uncontrollable recoil
at the time the spear was fired.
The characteristic of MP damage was still present, but it also turned out
to be more useful in this world than one might think.
I tried it on a rat I happened to see, and it seemed that in this world, a
significant decrease in MP caused an alteration in physical condition,
and if depleted to a certain degree or less, the rat would fall into a
coma.
Healing magic had no effect on the comatose rat, and when I tried
“Mana Transfer”, a magic that transfers MP, the rat immediately woke
up and ran away, so I was sure it’s probably true.
Now that I had an effective means of fighting back if I was attacked, I
was able to give myself a bit of mental leeway.
On the other hand, the same also applied to me, and magic must be
exercised with caution, as MP damage and excessive use of magic can
result in a loss of action.
In particular, since my ability to use magic was now greatly reduced, it
seemed that it was no longer possible to skip support by leaving it up to
MP, as was the case in the game days.
Potions and the like also had their effects greatly reduced.
When I drank a bottle of magic water, which was an MP recovery item,
as a test, I found that although there was a sense of magic power slowly
returning… I didn’t feel any immediate change after drinking it.
Another, explicable troublesome, thing about this was since it was a
liquid, it accumulated in my stomach immediately after drinking. The
stomach capacity of this body seemed to be small, so I should think that
it’s impossible to gulp down so many bottles.
At any rate, after trying out all the major magic and confirming that I
could activate all of them, I tried to contact the two people who were
supposed to be waiting for me in a nearby town…
“Of course the chat function’s gone too…”
…I had to give up on that idea and waited for the two powerful players
to come here, but…
“What if I was the only one to be sent here…?”
A sickening, unpleasant thought crossed my mind. My bag was already
overstuffed with gear, and there was almost no food or water in it. A
few bottles of magic water and two slices of sandwich were all I had.
While waiting for the two people who might or might not be coming.
“…I knew it, I can’t just leave it to them to come to me, I must find
them.”
Wiping away the drops that were about to overflow from the corner of
my eyes, I stepped out onto the snowfield where I had originally come
from during the game, determined to be ready.
…And as it turned out, I wasn’t ready enough.
This world looked like the game, its magic worked almost the same way
as the game. Therefore, I guess I underestimated the reality of this
world and thought that it would be somehow manageable. I didn’t
think I took the meaning of my new reality that seriously at the time.

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

(Iris/Yanagi’s PoV)
“Wha-”
At the moment I made my choice, there was a violent noise on the
screen.
A crimson geometric pattern ran in all directions, as if drawing
something in blood on the white campus. It spread across this pure
white world in the blink of an eye.
When I involuntarily stepped back a few steps, I was instantly
suspended in midair with no time to resist, as black shadows clung to
my limbs from the book in front of me, which had floated up by itself.
“Saul, Reiji, something happened…!”
“What’s going on there?!”
“Onii-chan, calm down and tell me!”
“L-Let go… of m-?!”
Dark-colored strips of blood pounded through my chest, stomach, and
entire body as I tried to escape the restraints.
Air was squeezed out of the lungs that should not be there, and
breathing became a struggle.
“Hey… Can you still rep-”
“Onii… what happen-”
The party chat went awry with static, and eventually I couldn’t hear
anything anymore.
And the sense of loss as something important disappeared in me. The
feeling of fulfillment as something else filled the empty space, the pain
that seemed to wash it all away. It was like an insect dissolving its entire
body into mush once inside its chrysalis to become an adult, and the
chill of having everything forcibly changed.
“I’m… fading away…”
In my sinking consciousness, I managed to squeeze out my voice with
the last of my strength, but the line that connected me to them had
already collapsed, and I could not reach them anywhere, and my voice
vanished in vain.
“…Where am I?”
I woke up in an unfamiliar ceiling.
…No, I recognized it.
I was a little unsure because I did not have the mental capacity to look
at it seriously, but it was an old ruin on the outskirts of the northern
country, where the entrance to the White World, the room of
reincarnation where I had just passed, was located.
…Did that mean I suddenly fell asleep after my finished reincarnation,
and I just woke up?
Come to think of it, I must have been very tired, because I had recently
cut my sleep time to the limit and spent as much time as the game
allowed me to on that last-minute leveling. So, with the completion of
my reincarnation, the tension broke… or was it?
Something felt off, really off.
This game should have forced me to logout if a certain amount of time
elapsed after falling asleep, as there might be something wrong with
my health.
And since this was the world’s first VRMMORPG, they must have been
very cautious about life-threatening bugs.
In other words, “falling asleep and waking up in the game” was
something that was not supposed to happen.
Gradually, a bad feeling began to creep up on my back. As a semireclusive
person, I used to read novels for entertainment, and I know
that at one time such a genre of novels was all the rage.
No matter how hard I tried, not even the menu screen appeared.
I tried again, and again.
The GM call was completely unavailable.
I was out of the loop by any stretch of the imagination, thank you very
much. No, no, no, that novel-like scenario must not be real…
I couldn’t help but feel chills down my spine.
Come to think of it, the floor on which I was lying down was awfully
cold.
It made sense, since I was lying on a hard marble floor in a northern
country…
“?!”
I was startled and tried to jump up… but my legs weren’t strong enough
and I sit down flat.
…Why did I feel cold?
This game did not reproduce that much detail. Otherwise, in the
extreme cold, I would immediately freeze and get stuck.
At most, body movements would only be slightly restricted when I get
the “low body temperature” abnormal status, and I wouldn’t actually
feel hot or cold.
Fortunately, this room was a bit warm for some reason, so there
seemed to be no immediate problem, but it was still a bit
uncomfortable in my current light clothing.
And now I was in the so-called girl-sitting position, and the coldness
coming from my legs and buttocks was not at all inferior to that of the
real thing.
As I sit there stunned, a rainbow-colored glow crossed the edge of my
vision.
When I took it in my hand, I could feel the smoothness of the finest silk
thread.
I pulled on it lightly to see where it came from… and it hurt. It seemed
to flow down from my own scalp.
I turned to look at my hand that was holding the thread. It was a very
familiar hand. Specifically, it was “the hand that I had always seen in
the game”.
However, beneath the translucent white skin, there was a hint of
vermilion, indicating that blood was running through it, and even veins
were visible through the skin. When I touched my wrist, I could feel the
soft, moist, and fine texture of my skin, but I could also feel the
hardness of her tendons and other parts of her body.
I wonder if the avatars in this game had finally reproduced the human
body in such details.
…It couldn’t be.
I created the textures for this character myself.
I was sure that my sister and I worked on it for months in pursuit of the
best quality, but I certainly didn’t remember going that far, and I had
been dealing with this body for years since I started playing the game.
There was no way I didn’t realize it until now.
I pinched myself lightly…
“Ouch?!”
I let go of my hand in a panic at the stabbing pain, and the place where
I had pinched earlier gradually turned red. Come to think of it, it also
hurt when I pulled my hair earlier.
With a trembling hand, I explore the pouch on my waist. Fortunately, it
has not lost its function as a magic bag, and its contents seemed
unchanged. From it, I pulled out the hand mirror I usually carried (used
for looking at shadows, etc., not for my narcissistic taste) and looked at
my own face.
If I had to put it succinctly, I would say that an immensely beautiful girl
was reflected there.
She was still probably very young, in her early teens at most.
Her skin was as translucent white as her arms, while her cheeks were
slightly cherry-red, as if she were a doll that had come into life.
Her bangs, trimmed just below the eyebrows, were gently slanted, and
while her right eye was fully exposed, the left side was long enough to
slightly cover the middle of her eye.
Her sideburns were neatly coiffed and just touching her shoulders, and
her hair was not tied back, but simply flowed smoothly and softly down
to her waist.
In the middle of her small face, framed by a curtain of silver thread, her
wide-open eyes were framed by long lashes, and when she relaxed her
face, her eyelids were slightly downcast and her eyes drooped, giving
her a gentle-looking smile.
In the center of her eyes, pale, moist-looking amethyst pupils
shimmered.
Her nose was not too high and not too low, with modest but beautiful
lines, and her rather small lips were plump and lovely, glistening with a
light pink color despite the fact that she did not seem to be wearing any
makeup.
In short, she had the look of “a pretty but fragile girl who might make
people want to protect her or feel attracted to her”.
As I shifted my viewpoint downward, I saw that beneath the thin,
unreliable, and dangerous clothes that were only there to prevent
exposure of her nude body for her new class, was a small, still childish
body less than 150cm, but with a dangerously balanced figure that was
beginning to turn from a girl to a woman.
The breasts, hidden by the clothes, were palm-sized but well formed,
and were still growing, so they were a little firm, but the surface was
still soft and pleasant to the touch.
I was concerned about the lack of feeling down there, between my legs,
but I wasn’t sure I have the mental capacity to investigate that right
now, so I was going to put it off.
Every sensation up to this point had done its best to insist that this was
reality. And that new reality made me want to die.
Moreover, I recognized this face very well. The avatar that had won the
grand prize over many other companies’ work so many times that she
was eventually forbidden to enter. A masterpiece created by my sister,
who said “If I’m going to do something, I’ll aim to become the best at
it”. The usual face of “Iris”, who I had been controlling for seven years.
Actually no, I shouldn’t say “usual”. As a result of the added realism,
her face stood out even more than the norm of the world.
However,…
“The hair color looks kind of different.”
I changed the angle of the hair in my hand and stared at it sullenly.
Originally, the hair was just a plain, near-white silver, but now it
appeared to have a faint rainbow glow.
“Is this the effect of becoming a new race after reincarnation? But…”
There was a lonely feeling on my back. The large wings on my back, a
characteristic of the Highborn race, were not present.
“I don’t get it… Am I supposed to be the Lightwing race?”
To test it out, I thought back to when I was moving the wings in the
game and put light pressure around the shoulder blades for a while…
Suddenly, my vision was enveloped in light.
In an instant, the room was filled with sparkling, fantastic particles of
light.
It was as if I had seen numerous and uncountable fireflies at my
grandparents’ house in the mountains of Tohoku, or perhaps multiply
that by a dozen.
Also, countless feathers shaped like fluffy lights were falling down,
making the dreary ruins look as if they had been turned into a solemn
religious painting. If I were to become the subject of such a painting… I
would very much refrain from doing so.
I picked up one of the fluttering feathers to test it out, and the moment
I touched it, it dissipated into particles.
When I turned around slowly with a slow movement that sounded like
rusty metal, I saw three pairs of six wings shimmering in my field of
vision, emitting a dazzling light. Come to think of it, I think it was wings
like these that were painted there when I went to see the mural at the
event.
“Oh god…This is bad…”
I felt as if I could no longer stop sweating.
If I looked into the mirror now, I am sure that the face of the innocent
girl I just saw would be drawn out in the same way.
The “Lightwing” race in this game was a race that was sometimes
mentioned in conversations in the game and was said to have existed a
long time ago. It was said that they were the most precious race in the
world at that time, and had an important role to play…
At present, they had gone completely extinct.
Moreover, from time to time, a “wound of the world” would open up in
this world.
Some dungeons and powerful monsters such as raid bosses arose from
these wounds.
And the Lightwing race was supposedly capable of healing the world
itself, erasing any wounds that had occurred.
I had never imagined that it was possible to choose such an option, so
when I actually saw its name on the list of reincarnation options, I could
not believe my eyes and chose it, knowing the risk.
However, if it were in a game, it would have been nothing more than an
element to feel superior. However, if this is no longer a game, but
reality, then…
“I’m screwed… This isn’t what I signed up for…”
Various disturbing and unjust words flickered in and out of my mind. I
felt as if I was losing my mind. Is this the punishment for cheating, God?
Isn’t it a little too heavy?
Kuga Yanagi, also known as Iris in the game. And if the game setting
was still there, Iris Nordglacier, Princess of the Northern Kingdom.
I was currently at level 1, just after my reincarnation.
Without the power to protect myself, I was now a girl of an ancient race
that was supposed to be extinct…

Part 1
(Yanagi’s PoV)
“You alright…?”
“It’s fine… I’m outside now…”
I answered languidly to the voice behind me.
The water-soaked handkerchief covering my eyes felt cool and
comforting, and the pit in my stomach that had been churning earlier
had somehow subsided, apparently no longer worried about wreaking
havoc in the crowded station.
Well, I got sick while I was riding the crowded train to travel from the
countryside where I lived to the city. To be more exact, I didn’t get sick
because of traveling by train. I got sick because of the crowd inside it.
“You’re never like this in the game.”
Reiji muttered something while pushing the wheelchair I was sitting in.
As for the reason I had to use a wheelchair, I couldn’t move as much as
I’d like from my waist down because of a past injury that had damaged
important nerves.
I wasn’t completely immobile, however. I could stand for short periods
of time if I could hold on, and with a cane I could walk short distances
around the house, but for the most part, I used a wheelchair.
“You see, even though this game felt much more realistic than anything
that came before, I still think people are aware that their characters are
not flesh and blood.”
No matter how beautiful the graphics of “Worldgate Online” might be,
it was impossible to simulate all real-life events.
For example, even a single cloud, for example, could only be made to
resemble a real cloud by randomly connecting several prepared
patterns together, and there was no way that every grain of sand on
the ground or every leaf on a tree could be generated individually.
The same was true for the characters. They could be touched, and if
someone touched their skin, they could feel the softness and body
heat, but the texture of the tissue under the skin was reproduced only
by large bones at best, and the fact that their blood vessels and the like
couldn’t be seen left them feeling more or less like dolls.
Thanks to this, I didn’t fear people as much in “Worldgate Online”
because I didn’t perceive them as real “humans”. Even though the
avatar of “Iris” attracted people and their eyes were focused on me, I
could maintain my performance to the extent that I was able to
maintain it without breaking down, aside from my inner thoughts.
More than anything else, the sensation of pain in “Worldgate Online”
was much duller than real life, and even if I was cut, I would only feel
numb at most. Even if the same thing from before happened to me, my
mind would still eventually be at ease.
…I feared “living” humans.
I was the victim of a robbery and murder in the past, which resulted in
the loss of my parents and the freedom of my legs.
The unreserved media coverage that continued during the subsequent
hospitalization was so stressful that my grandfather had to step in and
moved us to the countryside where he lived.
Because of this, with the exception of Ayame, Reiji, and a few other
acquaintances I trusted, I couldn’t get rid of the thought that the next
moment other people would pull out their blades and attack me.
I could still tolerate it if there were few people, but not in places where
people gather like schools or train stations. Instead of time resolving
the problem, it gradually worsened, to the point that I finally dropped
out of high school.
However, I thought I was gradually getting used to it as I interacted
with people on “Worldgate Online”. In the past, I would have likely
panicked even if there were two people nearby, but now I only felt a
little sick. That’s why…
“Don’t look so gloomy. I’m getting better, and I’m sure that one day, in
the not-too-distant future, I’ll be fine, I hope.”
I reached out to the head of Ayame, who was looking down next to me,
and tapped it lightly.
I was stabbed when I was protecting Ayame who fell down while
running away from a robber, so she blamed herself for my own injuries.
There’s no need for her to beat herself up like that. My sister, who was
only 5 years old at the time, deserved to be protected.
She had grown up to become a beautiful woman, and I felt sorry for her
to be tied up in my care forever.
Though, I wouldn’t mind if Ayame and Reiji ended up together.
While I was thinking in a daze, the traffic light in front of me started
flashing as we approached, and I was slightly floored by the wheelchair
that suddenly stopped.
“Oops, my bad. Should I have kept going instead?”
As I wriggled back into my seated position, a concerned voice called out
to me.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m more afraid of not making it across.”
The speed of the cars on the main street showed no restraint, and we
probably would have had to stop around the median. Therefore, Reiji’s
judgment was not wrong.
Again I waited for the traffic lights to change, I saw the rear wheels of a
large truck trying to make a left turn in a narrow space in front of me…
Hey, wasn’t this too close?
“Watch out!”
“Wah?!”
Reiji, who was standing behind me, lifted the wheelchair I was sitting in
and moved it to the side. Right afterward, the big rear wheel of the
truck crossed the spot where I was just before.
My face started to turn pale at the life-threatening event that just
happened, but more than that, I was concerned about…
“Onii-chan?!”
Ayame rushed over and checked my body for any injuries.
“I think I’m in one piece. Reiji saved me just in time. And…”
“Goddammit! Don’t you see there’s a wheelchair over here?! What the
hell was that drifting?!”
Reiji, who had just saved my life, couldn’t help but swear at the truck
that just left. Didn’t he realize what he had done earlier…?
“Reiji-san, is your arm alright?”
When Reiji turned his attention back to us, he looked quizzical at
Ayame’s question.
“Hmm? What are you talking about… Ah!”
He finally realized what he had just done. On such a spur of the
moment, no matter how well trained Reiji was and no matter how
scrawny I am, I couldn’t believe that he could lift a wheelchair with one
adult male in it as if it were a toy.
“Huh? Why? It totally didn’t feel heavy…”
“I-Is this the so-called adrenaline rush, ahaha…”
Like the matter of him beating his grandfather from yesterday, I still
wondered if something was going on.
I felt like my doubts that I once sank were starting to rise again, but that
didn’t change the fact that Reiji had saved me, like he always did.
“Thank you all the same, Reiji. You saved my life.”
So, even though I was late, I thought I should at least express my
gratitude.
“…Oh? Okay.”
For some reason, he fluttered his eyes for a while and now rubbed
them. He looked at me again and started mumbling something. What
on earth was he doing?
“…Hey, isn’t that just mean? I’ve always been grateful to you, you
know?”
“Nonono, I didn’t mean it, it’s just that you looked… Nevermind that,
let’s go.”
With a face as if he had seen a ghost, he pushed my wheelchair again
and started walking through the crosswalk that had turned into a green
light.
“…What the hell… Yanagi just now… He looked…”
“Arks VR Technologies”… The company stood in an inconspicuous
location on the somewhat suburban outskirts of a certain governmentregulated
city in the Tohoku region.
The “Worldgate Online” service we were familiar with did not disclose
its location, and all communication, except by phone, was done
through its parent company. Therefore, there was no company signs,
and from the exterior alone, it appeared to be just one of the
somewhat newer city buildings.
However, it was said that there is a large server room in the basement
filled with a large amount of very expensive equipment.
“Well, I’m going to hang out at one of those bookstores around here. I’ll
be back in a couple of hours.”
“Sorry about that. We’ll buy you a drink on the way home.”
“Nice. Good luck with your work.”
I waved my hand and watched his back as he walked away, tapped my
cheek to cheer myself up, and rang the intercom, which immediately
made a clanging sound.
“It’s me, Kuga. I’ve come as promised.”
As I was saying that much, the front door started to make a flurry of
noise, and one slightly flirtatious-looking Onii-san popped out. I knew
him. And I didn’t like him.
“Kuga-kuuuuuuuuuuuun!”
That person… Higami-san, ran toward me while shouting my name. He
braked just in front of my wheelchair, stopped abruptly, bent his waist
at a right angle, and bowed.
“I love you, please marry me!”
“Good morning, Higami-san. You must mean a wedding in the game,
right? I kindly refuse.”
“I don’t mind marrying you in real life!”
“Even more kindly refuse!”
…He must be joking, right?
Good grief, he wasn’t a bad person, but he was so quick to pull these
kinds of pranks that it bothered me. See, he even made Ayame scared…
wait a minute, these eyes were killers.
This person, after all, was the art director a.k.a our superior, and if he
were to suddenly disappear, we would be in serious trouble.
While I was fussing, a kind-looking woman in a suit came out from the
back of the room, clapping her hands. She was the company planner,
Hatakeyama-san.
“Come on now, these kids came here to help us. Welcome, Yanagi-kun,
Ayame-chan. Did he trouble you too much?”
“T-Thanks for your concern… It wasn’t too bad today, to be honest.”
“He got a little sick, but he seems to have calmed down now… He
doesn’t seem to be taking it too hard.”
“Mmm, if Ayame-chan says so, then we’re good to go.”
“What about me?!”
Why didn’t she trust me?! I only pushed myself too much and collapsed
during a consultation just once!
“So, has Kuga-kun finally reached level 110?”
“Yes…”
“Okay, I’ll let ‘that person’ know about it.”
I put my hand on my cheek and let out a sigh.
The genius scientist who kickstarted this place… Aureo-san, tended to
make last-minute changes quite often, and it’s a lot of work.
Still, I had a lot of experiences that I normally wouldn’t have had, and I
even got a job. I was enjoying it to the fullest, to say the least.
“I appreciate that. Thank you very much.”
I sat down and bowed my head. When I looked up, Hatakeyama-san
was smiling a bit shyly…
“…Higami-san, what’s the matter?”
The other person, Higami-san, covered his mouth and stared at me
weirdly… I think this was the second time today someone did that to
me.
“N-Nothing. I’m sure my eyes are just a little tired right now. Kuga-kun’s
character is a Highborn Bishop, am I correct? That means…”
“It’s something ‘he’ personally prepared, so I’m very excited to see
what happens… I look forward to your reaction to the upcoming event.”
“Um, what are you talking about?”
“”It’s a trade secret.””
Hey, don’t leave me at such a cliffhanger!
“…Mr. President? It’s rare to see you come out of the development
office.”
Higami-san was surprised to bump into a man in a very distinguished
suit.
The president of this company… Mr. Aureo Uber, whom I saw many
times on the news at one time or another.
Up close, I could see that this man was quite fit. With his magnificent
silver hair and neatly trimmed beard, he looked like he could be a
movie actor.
“Things have settled down for the moment… Oh, are you that Kugakun,
the player controlling that ‘Iris’ girl?”
“Yes, that’s me. It’s been a long time since we met like this.”
“Please, make yourself at home… I have high hopes for you, so keep up
your good work.”
“Eh? I’ll do my best.”
He suddenly tapped me on the shoulder. But, for all his anticipation, I
didn’t see myself in his eyes, and he seemed to be looking somewhere
far away, not here, which sent shivers down my spine.
“Well then, I shall take my leave for now. You can leave your meeting
materials at my desk as usual.”
With that, he left the building with a clacking sound of his shoes.
“Huh, is that it?”
“Only you would behave like that, Higami-kun… I’m so nervous.”
I agree with Hatakeyama-san, I would never have the courage to be
that frank like Higami-san.
“…Something about the President makes me curious.”
“Little sister, what’s on your mind?”
Ayame, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly raised her hand
and spoke up.
“I’m wondering if the King of Nordglacier, where we’re based in the
game, was modeled after that person? Whenever I’ve seen him up
close at events, he kind of looks a little…”
“Now that you talk about it…”
“…I can see the resemblance…”
In hindsight, all of us here might have already sensed something
mysterious at that time.
(Author’s Note)
The protagonist may not be aware of it, but he’s got a rather beautiful
face as well, just like his sister.
Part 2
(Yanagi/Iris’s PoV)
It was early summer, but there was still snow on the ground in a long
coniferous forest.
After passing through the cobblestones of a barely discernible,
dilapidated roadway, I came upon a dilapidated building.
Despite the battered exterior, the cold air damage that had tormented
me along the way did not exist, and I was able to proceed through the
building without incident, with no enemies in sight.
In the last room, there was a warp gate that I had seen many times in
the game. When I went through the gate, which I had been told about
beforehand, I found myself in a mysterious space where I could see
nothing but pure white, indistinct even on the floor or walls.
And right in front of me, on a pedestal, was an opulent book with blank
pages opened. As I touched it, blood-red letters appeared on the page.
Do you wish to leave your current body and unleash new powers?

• Refuse
• Cardinal
• Saint/Saintess (Unique class)
• Lightwing (Unique race)
  

“Unique… race?”
Did such an option exist?
I opened a party chat and contacted two people who were preparing
for a hunting trip that I had promised them in a village about 30
minutes away on foot.
“What, did something go wrong?”
“I just want to ask something… When you two changed classes, did you
have three options? Oh, except for cancelling it, of course.”
“………”
A moment of silence. Then…
“No, there were only two: the normal route and the unique class
route.”
“Me too. What’s the third one?”
“Uh, a unique race called Lightwing.”
As a matter of fact, this existence sounded familiar.
“I think I’ve seen that name coming up in events from time to time.
Anything else you could find?”
At Saul’s voice prompting me to continue, I hovered over the bottom
option and additional information popped up.
“…’If you choose this race, your race and class will change to an
exclusive one, changing your racial traits and granting you the
additional ability… Wings That Transcend The World: Heal the wounds
of the world and return things to what they should have been…’”
“Wounds of the world… aren’t those the locations of some of the raid
bosses?”
“Some of the dungeon entrances as well… Does it mean you can turn
them off?”
“Well, I don’t think it’s something that could destroy a dungeon or
anything like that… I mean, you wouldn’t put something that malicious
in something that a single player could learn, would you?”
If there were such a thing, it would be too much authority to give to
one player.
“Right… If it turns out to be a minefield of an ability, we’ll definitely be
with you, so don’t worry about it.”
“Ditto what he said. Besides, there might be a lot of other hidden
elements like this, you know.”
I did feel a lot of anxiety.
But no matter what happened, those two would be with me. Those
words alone were more than enough for me to take a step forward in
prioritizing my curiosity for the unknown.
“Thanks a lot, you two… Alright, if this turns out to be really bad, we’ll
just look back at it as some funny story.”
A choice that had never been reported before. With anticipation of
what awaited me, I tapped the bottom option, the Lightwing race.
That was the start of everything.
(Higami’s PoV)
“What the hell…”
I, Kyouya Higami, was stunned by what was happening in front of me.
At first I thought it was a small bug.
A small distortion of the field. I thought it was a quick fix and that was
the end of it, not something that needed maintenance.
However, the breakdown that began at a certain starting point…the
location of the reincarnation event, commonly known as the “White
World”, quickly spread throughout the virtual world, and now all inhouse
devices were emitting rattling alarms.
The entire staff tried to stop it somehow, but they could not keep up,
and when they tried to force a shutdown, for some reason, all attempts
to do so were rejected.
“Curses! Can you hear me, server room! Unplug the power supply!”
“We’ve already done that!!”
“Why is this happening?!”
The server room was a crucible of chaos, and I slammed the receiver
down on the phone with a cluck of my tongue.
“Code: Worldgate initiated. Begin collecting life and magic power from
all non-qualified personnel and execute sequential forced logout upon
completion… Finished. Modifications of targeted character ‘Iris’, start.”
A voice announcing a completely unknown content echoed through the
room.
Looking at one of the monitors, the HP and MP of the players present
there in the red-tinted world decreased due to tremendous slip
damage, and they fell down in a flurry. They were enveloped in a logout
light from the edge of their fall and disappeared from the game.
“Check the vital signs of everyone who had been logged out for their
safety, hurry!”
“Y-Yes, at once!”
This was something that had never happened before, so anything could
happen. At the very least, I should prioritize the players’ safely
foremost. I gave the instructions with prayers in my heart.
At such a time, someone entered the room in a rather relaxed and
normal manner at this time of emergency.
The president, Aureo Uber. Why was he looking at this situation with
such satisfaction? The blood rushed to my head at the sight of him so
carefree. I didn’t care if he is my boss or not.
“You!”
“Don’t worry about those on forced logout, there may be some mild
intoxication from being thrown out, but there should be no harm done
to the human body.”
He dismissed my concerns like it was nothing.
“…What do you know about this?”
“Everything. I’ve orchestrated this whole situation.”
From there, Aureo told me about a fantasy event that was far from the
norm I knew.
According to him, he was a resident of a different world from this one
and had been sent there by accident.
According to him, the purpose was to create and bring back the
“people” needed to solve the crisis that was happening in that world.
According to him, the “reincarnation event” was a literal reincarnation,
in which one’s body was remodeled to adapt to a world that was more
severe than ours.
According to him, there were some influences such as a slight
improvement of abilities in this world as a preparatory step for
reincarnation.
According to him…
“In a nutshell, ‘Worldgate Online’ itself was a gate connecting this
world and my own world, and it’s my long cherished desire to use it to
create soldiers who have no ties to the other side, who will become a
force to protect the world and revive the long-lost Lightwing tribe. Do
you understand?”
A book appeared before Aureo. Was that the white book that was there
during the reincarnation process? Countless pages left the book and
began to drift around him. What on earth? When did this world
become such a fantasy world?
“Modifications of player ‘Iris’ complete. Commencing transfer.
Qualified personnel within ‘Worldgate Online’, transfer complete. Begin
searching for other qualified personnel outside the game…”
In the monitors showing various locations, a magic circle appeared at
the feet of those who were still standing in the game, bewildered by
the sudden abnormal situation… and one after another they were
swallowed up and disappear.
“Let me reintroduce myself. I am Aureolus Nordglacier, and you may
have heard of me. The former king of Nordglacier in ‘Worldgate Online’
who suddenly disappeared… That person’s me.”
This was laughable. Under the direction of some inhabitant of another
world, we recreated the world he lived in as this game.
“When did you decide to remake ‘Iris’… no, Kuga-kun into that and
send him over to that world?”
“…From the very start, when I saw him at the contest. He has no
parents living on this side of the world and only one family relative, his
sister. He is a recluse with few ties, has few regrets, is a good person,
and above all, he has that appearance that makes people want to
protect him. I’ve already listed him as a strong candidate for the job.”
“You bastard!”
I instinctively tried to grab him by the chest, but a belt-like shadow
stretched out from the pages floating around him and restrained my
limbs. However, I would never stop until I tell Kuga-kun what’s going on
here. He deserved to know the truth.
“Is this how you repay his gratitude, you shithead?! You set him up
from the beginning to send him to a dangerous place!”
“Now that’s just convenient. Let me return the favor here.”
“Fuck you!”
The same magic circle also appeared at my feet. My body started to
disappear into it.
“You’re also qualified, aren’t you? I see you’re pretty devoted to him…
no, I should use ‘her’ now. By all means, you should protect her, too.
Goodbye.”
I could only reach out my hand to his back as he turned on his heel and
walked away, and soon my consciousness was consumed by darkness
and disappeared.
“Hatakeyama-san… What happened…”
“I don’t know… How am I supposed to know about this?!”
In the room where it all ended, all the terminals just kept spitting out
error screens mercilessly.
That day, the world’s first VRMMORPG “Worldgate Online” was
suspended for a long period of time due to a massive outage.
On the same day, a mass disappearance of several hundred people
caused a huge uproar… Those who tried to connect the two events
were treated as gossips before the common sense called “reality”, and
except for the sea of speculation on the Internet, the events of that day
were soon faded and forgotten.

(Iris’ PoV)
The meeting place was an NPC-run coffee shop, which had been
informed in advance via whisper chat.
I lowered my altitude and landed softly. In doing so, I remembered to
hold down my skirt as it floated away.
Hehehe, I know what you’ve been expecting, but don’t think I’m going
to show it to you that easily, whoever have been staring at me.
Smiling with a hint of embarrassment and waving a small hand at those
around me, I headed for the table where I could see the person I was
looking for while hiding my black thoughts.
There he was, a fearless man with red hair and a toned body.
Sitting at the same table, was a prince-like Highborn who looked a few
years older than my character, sipping tea in a very dignified manner.
The way he tilted his cup was so charming that it almost attracted the
attention of the women around him, and my mischievous thoughts
began to wander to the redhead who was looking uncomfortable
beside him.
“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Saul-niisama. It’s been a long time. I’m
glad to see you and Reiji-san doing so well.”
I lightly picked up my skirt and bent my knees in the most courteous
pose possible.
In contrast to Reiji, who sit frozen in place with a face like a pigeon
being shot by a peashooter… the princely Saul noticed my intentions,
grinned and lifted the corner of his mouth, then stood up and lightly
placed his hand on my cheek, turning my face slightly upward.
“The pleasure’s mine, Iris. Have you become a little more beautiful
again? Reiji, what do you think?”
“…Huh?! Ah, uh, how do I say it…”
Usually we would not have such a pretentious conversation.
Seeing Reiji, who had suddenly become flustered, I tilted my head
slightly as if it was a follow-up strike, stared into his eyes and waited for
his next words.
Reiji’s eyes wandered suspiciously, and he could do nothing but groan
for a while.
“Aaaaargh!!! Stop messing with me, the two of you!”
Reiji finally exploded, and we both shrugged our shoulders.
“So, what’s your level now, ‘Onii-chan’?”, Saul asked me.
It’s a very strange thing to hear coming from someone who looked like
a prince, but this “guy” was actually my little sister, Ayame.
“I hit the cap. Since I’m running out of game time today, I’ll proceed
with the reincarnation event tomorrow.”
I dropped the tone of voice I’d been using until now and sipped on the
tea while trying to appear elegant in consideration of the eyes of those
around me.
The advantage of this game was the ease with which I could select a
menu item, press the “pay” button, and the price would be deducted
from my storage, and the actual item would appear in front of me
without waiting.
The taste and aroma reproduced in the brain by the taste engine were
comparable to those in the real world, and I could taste the aroma and
astringency on the tongue before swallowing.
Our conversation was currently switched to party chat, so no voices
could be heard in the vicinity. To the outsiders, we were just chatting
over tea.
“…Still, I still feel bad for not being there to help you level up.”
Reiji said apologetically. We had already gone over it several times six
months ago and reached a conclusion, but he was still feeling regretful
about it.
“I’ve said this a million times already, but it can’t be helped. The
competition is fierce, isn’t it?”
Saul was a Knight, while Reiji was a Swordsman, two of the most
popular classes. The former, who was a genius in every way, had
already attained a unique class before I knew it, but in Reiji’s case, it
was much closer to comfort. It was not difficult to imagine that it would
have been impossible for him if I had been added to the mix.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t have made it without Saul’s help. This guy
feels like he has knowledge of every single tasty hunting grounds in this
game.”
My friend looked dismayed, remembering the high-paced grinding of
those days.
Back then, he was always gaunt with dark circles under his eyes. During
the winter break, when he stayed over at our house and worked hard
to level up, I was seriously worried that he was going to die when I
found him buried under a huge can of energy drink and looking pale.
“Mmm, praise me more~”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m eternally grateful to you.”
Seeing the two of them in good mood, I could finally relax my cheeks.
Ever since I refused their invitation and started working alone, I had
been feeling somewhat awkward and uncomfortable even when we
were together in the game. I had repeatedly told them that they didn’t
have to worry about it, but they seemed unable to get rid of their guilt
about leaving me behind.
I was happy to catch up with them and see our old relationship return
again, and took another sip of tea.
“By the way… you’ve become more girly in your behavior over here,
haven’t you? Earlier, when you laughed, you put your finger to your
mouth, did you do it unconsciously?”
It was only after my friend pointed it out did I realize it.
“You’re right… Well, after seven years of doing this, it comes naturally,
even on the spur of the moment…”
“Of course you do. I would never allow my masterpiece to make such
crude and masculine gestures.”
Yes, the avatars we were using, in other words, the 3D models, were
both created by my sister.
As an older brother, I was very concerned to see my sister, who was
supposed to be 13 years old at the time, facing the creation software
with a thick technical book in her hand and a devilish expression on her
face, as if she was possessed by something.
And sometimes she would look off into the distance and give a weird
laugh, which made me even more worried. “Uhuhuhuhu” or something
like that.
During the three months it took my sister to create the characters, the
two of us discussed them over and over again, fine-tuned them over
and over again, and corrected any points that bothered us over and
over again… It was daunting, to say the least.
“Iris”, the character I was using, was the “ideal girl she wants to love
with all her might”, according to my sister.
And the “Saul” that my sister used was also created by her, taking my
opinions and adding her own tastes.
When they were completed and we first unveiled them, the stunned
look on my friend’s face was a bit amusing.
I was supposed to use Saul, while my sister was supposed to use Iris,
but why did we have to exchange our characters?
All I could say was, “we both made a mistake in our initial choice of
class”.
Neither of us was suited for the class we had chosen, but it could not be
changed, and if we had to delete our characters, the fruits of our three
months of hard work would become dust.
Yes, I had no choice. My sister was very excited about it, but I was very
reluctant. I was very, very unwilling. I wanted to say that out loud.
My girly behavior in the game was also a result of my sister’s guidance.
We lost our parents when we were very young due to an incident in the
past, and we were taken in by our grandparents, who were a wellknown
wealthy family in the area.
My sister had been disciplined by our grandparents, who were strict
about etiquette, since she was about five years old, and the acting
instruction I received from her was very, very spartan. Especially in VR,
there was a high possibility that the sex of the person inside would be
revealed by the smallest gesture, so in the beginning, she was almost
always there to guide me.
There was one time when my sister lost her temper after a series of my
failures, pressed me into a closed room where no one could enter, and
told me to “practice the reaction of a girl who’s touched in a strange
place” for a while. Thankfully, the memory of what happened after had
been erased.
“…So, how long are you going to keep stroking my head, Reiji? Please
stop messing up my hair.”
Yes, I had been headpatted by Reiji the entire time ever since I sat
down at the table.
“Oops, sorry about that. Your head was located at just the right place,
so I went for it.”
I glared at Reiji and pouted, as he only intensified the patting while
saying such a strange thing.
How did I make such a gesture so naturally?
Could it be that my sister has brainwashed me? I was getting a little
worried.
The next moment I was thinking such a silly thought, I felt a chill run
down my spine.
Reiji seemed to do the same, turning his head toward Saul with an
almost audible moment like a robot.
Saul took another sip of tea and smile at us… but his eyes were clearly
not smiling.
I was sure he was trying to say, “That head’s mine to pat, do not touch
without permission.”
I mustn’t have been wrong, because next to me, Reiji was nodding his
head gruffly, dripping with cold sweat, and gently removed his hand
from my head.
“A-Anyway, I have something to ask you both. What’s a reincarnation
event supposed to be?”
I quickly changed the topic to avoid such a piercing atmosphere.
“If you ask me… it wasn’t anything special. After choosing and
confirming a class, your eyes go blank for a moment, and then it’s
over… Oh, and you can’t wear your current gear anymore because of
the level reset, so make sure you have low-level armor and warm
clothes, or you’ll freeze to death… Saul, anything you want to say?”
“Me?”
Saul, who had pulled back his earlier intimidation and fallen silent as
soon as the event was mentioned, took another sip of tea and
moistened his tongue before opening his mouth.
“…Well, I’ve heard some weird storied about that. It’s from a friend at
school. She kept blurting out that her brother was totally into this game
and not studying…”
For someone who’d always been blunt with her words, it was weird of
Ayame to fidget like that. When we both silently urged her to continue,
she gave up and started talking again.
“Somehow, after the reincarnation event, his grades suddenly went up
to the top of his class. That kid’s always been immersed in games and
hovering around the bottom, you know?”
“…Isn’t it just a coincidence? I think he’s found his motivation to study
again.”
I gave her an answer that was the most likely to be true. Now that
almost all of the unique classes, with a few exceptions, were gone,
there was no reason to rush after reincarnation, so it should not be
surprising that he came back to himself and tried to make up for his
past delays.
“Maybe that’s the case but… something about this is bugging me.”
“What about you, then? Any improvement in your grades?”
“Nothing. Same as usual.”
Ayame dismissed Reiji’s question.
I didn’t know when she studied, but my sister had never failed a grade
in the past.
“Oh, right. I’m sorry for even questioning you, Your Excellency.”
“What about you, Reiji? Have you noticed anything unusual?”
“………”
Contrary to my expectations, Reiji hid his mouth behind his hands and
became troubled, as if thinking about something.
“…Eh, is it that serious?”
“Uh, well… You know I practice kendo, right?”
Reiji’s family ran a kendo dojo. As a result, he had been wielding a
bamboo sword since he was a small child, and although he did not
compete in official tournaments, he was quite skilled at it.
In a VRMMO, experience in real life was very important. A complete
amateur and one who had experience in swordfighting were naturally
incomparable, even with the same status, and Reiji, with his
experience, was starting with a significant advantage.
“Long story short, I beat my old man.”
““What?!””
“W-W-Wait a minute, Your grandfather is someone who regularly
practices with the police, right?!”
“You totally got beat to a pulp last year!”
“That’s right…No, it wasn’t that bad! But anyway, for some reason his
swordsmanship looks like it’s in slow motion! And BAM, I win!”
Reiji then made a pose as if demonstrating what he just said.
“…Did you swing your sword so much over here that you’ve gotten
stronger in real life without knowing it…?”
We couldn’t help but feel worried about him.
“Sorry, I got carried away! That aside, what are you going to do until
you can login tomorrow for the reincarnation event?”
“Lemme see… the management wants me to go to their place
tomorrow to prepare for the next event. I also want to hear about the
revisions to the illustrations I submitted. So it’s probably in the evening
when I’m finally able to login.”
“I’m accompanying him. Well, I think of it as a tour of my future
workplace anyway.”
Soon after our grandparents passed away, I decided to turn my hobby
of painting into a career so that I could earn a decent income for
myself, drawing both my own arts and commissions. My sister still had
two years left of college, yet she had already received a confirmed job
offer from the company that developed and managed this game.
“Gotcha. I’m free tomorrow, so can I join you guys? Even if they don’t
let me in, I can still help pushing your wheelchair around.”
Certainly. Reiji was physically strong, and I felt reassured when he’s
around.
“…Are you sure about that?”
“Leave it to me.”
“Then you must be happy to carry our luggage, right?”
“Yeah, leave it to me…”
It seemed that Ayame wanted to buy something heavy on the way. As
expected, Reiji looked a bit distressed. My condolences.
While we were talking, an alarm went off in my brain, signaling the five
minute countdown until the forced logout.
“Looks like my time’s up… I’m counting on you tomorrow, Reiji.”
“I’m logging out too. Good night, Reiji-san.”
“See you, Yanagi and Ayame-chan… I’m happy to party with you two
again in the future.”
The three of us lightly clapped our fists together, each logged out, and
returned to the real world.
Author’s Note:
Yanagi = Saul Ayame = Iris
After exchanging the game character, they referred to each other as
their new character name.
Reiji is also Reiji in real life.
Ayame’s opinion of the character exchange: “Just as planned (gesugao
face).”

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

The player called “Princess”
(???’s PoV)
The Kingdom of Nordglacier encompassed almost the entire northern
continent.
Most of the country was covered with snow and ice, and the royal
capital was located on a never-melting lake of ice.
Why such a structure existed, you ask?… One theory was that there
was an ancient underground ruins beneath the ice surface, which was
supported by the NPC’s dialogues.
It was thought that the royal capital of this country was built on top of
this ruins by the people who had to leave their homeland for various
reasons.
Among the four continents currently implemented in this world, this
was the region where many magical-class players were based, as it
excelled in magical techniques and often held events where players
could learn rare spells.
The climate in the southern part of the country was relatively warmer,
about the same as that of Hokkaido in Japan.
Since the seasons in the game were roughly linked to reality, it was now
approaching early summer, and the streets were suddenly becoming
crowded with people who had changed their base of operations here to
seek cooler weather.
At the southernmost tip of this northern continent, there was a
commercial town with a large-scale portal to “Acropolis”, which sit on
an island in the center of the four continents.
It’s natural that this town was bustling with activities, where players
who found it difficult to obtain a business permit in Acropolis set up
their stalls there.
As I stepped through the gate into town, I involuntarily closed my eyes
at the glare of sunlight for the first time in a month in the game…
“…Hey, isn’t that the Princess?”
“Wow, you weren’t joking. It’s been a long time since we last saw her. I
wonder what she’s been up to.”
“Maybe she was raising her level. Being a support class is tough,
especially for such a cute little girl.”
Whoops. It had been so long since I had been out in public that I had
forgotten how eye-catching I was.
Come to think of it, the cloak I used to hide my figure had been
damaged in a recent hunt and was no longer usable, so it had been
removed from my equipment and stored in my inventory as a
malfunctioning item.
My current appearance was that of a pretty white dress with lots of
frills, called the “Maiden Dress”, which was equipment for a high-level
Bishop.
I was dressed in such a conspicuous outfit in the busy central plaza.
By the time my eyesight was restored, it was already too late, and I
looked around and was completely the center of attention.
Even after all these years, I just couldn’t get used to having so many
eyes on me when I’m alone.
“Um, Princess, we’re taking our guild members on a leveling trip, I hope
you wouldn’t mind lending us a hand-”
“…My apologizes, I’m already at the limit of my game time today.”
When I responded with my hands folded in front of my navel, my
viewpoint slightly down at my feet, and consciously trying to “look”
slightly downcast and apologetic, the player in front of me looked
around impatiently, as if he was concerned about the way people were
looking at him.
“Oh, I see… I-It’s already late at night in real life, right… My bad.”
I felt somewhat sorry for him as he apologized in a slurred voice,
because, aside from the presence or absence of an ulterior motive,
what lied at the root was probably kindness. I would be sorry if anyone
around me said anything about it.
“Please don’t worry. If there’s another opportunity, I’d appreciate your
offer.”
I looked up, tilted his head slightly, smiled softly and lightly, bailed
lightly to my stunned friend, and walked away.
After all, I was under an exclusive contract with the management
company and often asked to participate in official events, so I had been
told to be mindful of my words and actions so as not to “damage the
image of the company”.
I trotted my way toward a slightly wider space, then looked back at the
square.
“Sorry for causing a disturbance. I shall take my leave now.”
After lightly picking up the hem of my skirt, I spread the wings on my
back, flapped them, and soared into the sky.
Not many Highborn players chose to fly in the city, because it’s easier
to just walk normally… but I had my own “circumstances”.
Since my “circumstances” were widely known, I received warm words
of encouragement from people around me like “Take care of yourself”.
I smiled and gave a small wave in return, then quickly climbed to the
desired altitude to head for the destination.
Among the recovery-class players, there was a celebrity nicknamed
“Princess” by the playerbase.
That being said, she wasn’t the type of woman surrounded by men and
taking advantage of them.
Rather, she was not very good at being pampered, and was famous for
never accepting gifts given by those who approached her with ulterior
motives.
What made her a celebrity was not only that she was the highest level
of recovery class in terms of both character level and player skill that
could withstand high-end content, but more than that, it was her
appearance… and the perfection of her avatar.
Her name first appeared in the first officially sponsored avatar contest.
At first, all the players looked on with a somewhat blank expression,
thinking that the podium would be occupied by avatars created by
companies anyway.
But when she showed up, an uproar broke out.
One could only ask, how much time and passion had gone into the
creation of her avatar.
Fine waist-length silver hair.
A delicate face as if coming from a fairytale.
A petite frame, no more than 150cm, so slender that seemed to break if
touched.
Her smooth, white porcelain skin also seemed to have been drawn
from scratch, and while it was clothed in a texture that set it apart from
its surroundings, it was just barely at such a level that it wasn’t
completely out of this world.
Combined with the white wings on her backs, a characteristic of the
Highborn race (surprisingly, these wings, too, were not obvious at a
quick glance, but when compared at close range, the fluffy feeling was
completely different), they looked as if angels had descended.
Her gestures were neat and adorable, so much so that one might be
convinced that she was a young noblewoman from somewhere.
…The only flaw of hers was a somewhat awkward walking posture,
perhaps because her legs were lame, but it only aroused a desire to
protect in others.
Meanwhile, within the male playerbase, a certain someone was at the
center of attention.
He seemed to be the brother of the girl from earlier, as their
appearances were somewhat similar. He wasn’t that tall, standing at
170 or so, but his androgynous look suited him well.
His silvery, habit-free silver hair, trimmed around his soldiers, bore a
slight resemblance to the girl from earlier. His elegant, noble
appearance and behavior drew the envy of the women and jealousy of
the men.
It was said that when the “brother and sister” were together, their
beauty was so destructive that some people fainted at the sight of
them.
As a result, the two dominated both the men’s and women’s divisions,
outshining an array of company-produced avatars.
Eventually, at the suggestion of the management, they were given titles
indicating that they were the royalty of their favorite country, and thus
became the semi-official princess and prince of the magical Kingdom of
Nordglacier.
The nickname “Princess” had become reality.
It was said that these events inspired avatar creators to create their
own avatars one day, and that this had led to an increase in the face
deviation level in the game.
The Princess of the North, Iris Nordglacier.
There were rumors here and there that she was actually an NPC
equipped with a high-performance AI under development…
But in truth, the inside of such a princess… was me.
I’m really, really sorry.