Chapter 1

A virtual reality game developed in Korea, Silia Online has taken the world by storm, gaining massive popularity as an MMORPG.

However, when news of its development first spread, Silia Online didn’t receive much attention.

In an era where virtual reality games were already commonplace, the word “virtual reality” no longer held much appeal.

Moreover, the MMORPG genre itself was losing its charm.

While games and media were evolving to deliver strong, instant stimulation, MMORPGs took the opposite approach.

Though there’s enjoyment in role-playing and character growth, the pacing is too slow. To develop your character properly, you quite literally need to sink time into the game, making it a love-or-hate experience for players.

The few MMORPGs that survived managed to resolve this dilemma by allowing parts of the character progression to be replaced with money—what we call microtransactions. But…

As a result, these surviving games gained a reputation for being difficult to enjoy unless you spent money.

Yet, Silia Online proudly proved otherwise.

All those issues could be solved with good game design.

“If it’s hard to endure the boring progression, why not just make the progression fun?”

It was as if that’s what they were saying.

Many factors contributed to Silia Online’s rise to the ranks of popular games, but players frequently cited its graphics and freedom.

Unlike other games where the graphics made it clear you were in a game, Silia Online’s graphics felt so natural, like you’d actually stepped into another world. And its freedom—there was no limit to what you could do.

It gave players the feeling that they had escaped the hardships of reality to enjoy a new life in a fantasy world. This appeal captivated heavy users, casual players, young and old alike.

“It’s not a game; it’s a real other world!”

“They must have used thousands of aliens to develop this!”

“MMORPGs blur the line between reality and the game so much that we need regulations limiting playtime!”

Comments like these became common.

Thanks to this, other game companies suffered, but competition is a brutal world.

While other companies cried, gamers and Silia Online laughed.

It was the perfect realization of a beautiful world.

***

Half a year had passed since the launch of Silia Online. Sёarch* The Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Even after six months, the Silia Online-related community was more active than ever—more so than right after the game launched.

Players shared their knowledge with each other, and each new discovery left the community amazed.

At that time, one particular post started drawing attention.

***

[Just found something really crazy, real-time;]

The author was an adventurer who loved to explore.

Ever since the game’s release, they had been wandering around.

Recently, they had been exploring the mountains near the Kingdom of Grasis when they stumbled upon something strange today.

(A picture of a cabin in front of a flower field)

A Cabin That Looks Lived In

It seems like someone lives in the cabin. Judging by the state of the flowers, it also looks like the person who lives in the cabin is the one who took care of the flower field.

At this point, you’d think, “Oh, it’s just someone living in the mountains, nothing special.”

(Picture of a grave)

(Picture of a sword)

A sword stuck in front of the grave?

Anyone can tell this sword looks incredible, right?

I can’t resist, haha. I’m going to try pulling it out right now.

(Picture of hand on the sword handle)

(You Died)

????

I tried pulling it out, and I died instantly;

I was so dumbfounded that I watched the replay.

(Picture of a mysterious figure)

At the exact moment I tried, I could barely see someone swinging the sword.

Considering that a health bar popped up briefly, it’s probably a Raid Boss. I should have switched to third-person camera mode!

I mean, seriously, what’s with these devs placing a sword here that anyone would want to pull and then hiding a boss right there—so unfair.

Anyway, I think I’ve discovered a new boss.

Next time, I’ll try sneaking in and pulling it out.

[Comments]

“Grave robber caught”

┕ “Hey, I’m not a grave robber, call me ‘Indiana Jones,’ alright?”

“LOL, who touches someone’s grave when they know people live there? You deserved to die.”

┕ “But seriously, how could anyone resist? If you can, you’re not a man.”

┕ “Can’t argue with that.”

┕ “No one can resist Excalibur.”

“Why does this game keep having new things to discover?”

┕ “That’s why it’s so fun to explore, for real. In other games, after a few hundred hours of exploring, there’s nothing left, but in this game, there’s so much to do that it’s almost a problem.”

┕ “Uh, after a few hundred hours, haven’t you played enough?”

“I’m going to organize a raid party and check it out.”

┕ “Let us know how it goes!”

“Why did you even go hiking?”

┕ “Because the mountain was there.”

┕ “That’s so badass.”

“Wow, that sword really does look amazing.”

┕ “I’m curious about its stats. If you get it, let us know.”

┕ “Okay, wait for me, I’ll try it out.”

┕ “Or so it’s written, lol.”

***

The sea of online communities, filled with a mix of bait and real information.

A post, thrown into this sea, was discovered by curious users, and soon, a swarm of people rushed to bring it to the surface.

The uncertainty over whether the information was real, the discovery of a new Raid Boss, and the sword, which looked anything but ordinary, stuck in front of the grave.

In a flash, the post that might have otherwise been buried rose to the ranks of the most popular posts.

.

“…What the?”

.

The corpse vanished, dissolving into a mass of light.

For a moment, I was startled by the sudden disappearance of the body, but then I thought, “I guess that’s possible.”

There are spells that can make a person vanish in an instant, so a disappearing corpse isn’t that strange.

It might even be an artifact that delivers corpses to the deceased’s family.

If they had spent time developing defensive spells instead of spells like that, they might have survived a second longer. How unfortunate.

I muttered this unspoken advice to myself as I walked away, inspecting every inch of my sword to see if any blood had splattered on it.

“…Glad there’s no blood on it.”

I don’t care if blood gets on my sword, but it would be a problem if blood stained this Crimson Aegis.

The stench of blood is for the living.

We mustn’t disturb the rest of the deceased.

“Pff.”

As I was polishing it with an oil-soaked cloth, a sudden laugh escaped me.

The fact that I can cut someone down without a second thought and then calmly clean my sword—it’s almost funny.

The old me, the one who lived on Earth before reincarnating, would have never imagined doing something like this.

But now, there’s been so much I’ve experienced in this world that there’s no time to dwell on nostalgia.

I was just walking along when I blinked, and suddenly, I—a grown man, though not very strong—had turned into a little girl. And everything around me was more fantasy-like than anything resembling modernity.

I had no choice but to adapt in order to survive.

When you’re in a situation where your head might fly off if you lose focus for a second, there’s no time to adapt slowly.

Because of that, I’ve often been asked why a girl behaves like a boy.

“Looking back, I must’ve died, right?”

Was it a traffic accident? Maybe I was hit by a truck.

You know, there was that joke about reincarnating into another world if you got hit by a truck.

It was just a meme from a neighbouring country, but after being reincarnated, I began to wonder if those people weren’t pioneers who somehow knew the truth.

“I never really missed my old world, but…”

Maybe because I now have a little more leisure in my life, I find myself thinking about my past world more often.

“I miss chicken.”

What I miss the most is, of course, the food.

The food in this world isn’t bad, but I’ve grown used to the artificial and intense Flavors, and I miss them.

I’m sure this body has never even tasted those kinds of foods.

Is this a memory of the soul…?

In any case, while the appearance of dimensional creatures proved that other dimensions exist, crossing between dimensions is a whole other issue.

Unfortunately, it seems I won’t be able to bring fried chicken from Earth back to Silia and tear into a drumstick here.

If there were a way, I’d try it right away.

Get to work, wizards.

“…Maybe I’ll give it a shot?”

Not crossing dimensions, of course.

I don’t know how to do it, and even if I did, there’s no guarantee that crossing dimensions would lead me back to Earth, so it’s not an option.

Maybe when I’m an old granny with Gray hair, but until then, it’s impossible.

So I’ll make chicken myself…!

I hate anything that’s a hassle, but when it comes to chicken, that’s a different story.

With nothing else to do, living in isolation in the mountains, my new goal starting today is to recreate the taste of chicken.

“I think there was a Cockatrice nearby.”

A monster that looks like a mix of a chicken and a reptile, the Cockatrice.

According to people who’ve eaten it, it tastes similar to chicken or even better, so I should be able to use it, right?

Okay, so the most important thing—the chicken—is ready.

“Flour, oil, salt, milk, eggs….”

What else do I need?

I mentally checked off the ingredients I could remember and prepared to head down the mountain.

I can’t get the rest of the ingredients up here in the mountains, so I’ll have to go down to the village for the first time in a while.

“…Ah.”

As I wrapped myself in my worn-out cape, I suddenly remembered what happened earlier, and my hands paused.

I didn’t expect anyone to come here, and I didn’t think anyone would touch the sword in front of the grave, so my reaction had been a little slow.

It still made me angry thinking about it, but what’s the point of getting mad at someone who’s already dead?

“It should be fine, right?”

I was a bit worried about leaving and having something like what happened earlier occur again….

But there’s no path here, so what are the chances someone else will show up?

After all, it’s been a year and a half since I’ve seen anyone here.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy as I hesitated in front of the grave for a while.

“…I’ll be back.”

I pulled the cape over my pale pink hair and forced my unwilling feet to start moving.

‘Take care.’

It couldn’t be, but somehow, the wind blowing felt as if it was telling me to come back safely.