Hello there! Thanks for checking out this chapter!
Here’s another chapter I’m uploading before work, though it is slightly shorter than the others.
Enjoy the chapter, and remember to leave some comments!
Chapter 12
Time goes by, and now Lemir is graduating from elementary school. He had received his results a few days ago, and it was good enough for him to go to the middle school his older sisters went to. It was a very close call regarding Math, but having his older sisters teach him helped him avoid failing.
Incidentally, Arata and Luke were both going to the same middle school too, so their gang of 3 stayed together. Mei Lang and Shuai Lang were going to a different middle school, the one Lemir heard Emiri went to.
As for Malaixa, she could go to any middle school she wants to, but she chose to go to the same middle school Lemir chose to. She had investigated beforehand and found out which middle school Lemir might go to. While she could just track Lemir with her drones, there were some things you wouldn’t be able to hear without being there yourself, namely – rumours.
Soon, Lemir was notified that he was accepted into the middle school, and preparations started to get Lemir ready for middle school when it starts. Seeing the school uniforms, he felt it was weird, as he wore his own clothes to elementary school. But he accepted it anyway. Preparations continued for middle school…
==================================================================================
Deliveryman [Japanese] : “Please sign here!”
The maid signed on the paper to confirm that they received the package that was supposed to be delivered to them. The deliveryman confirmed the signature, and he motioned for his colleagues to carry the package into the house.
They moved it into Malaixa’s room, and started to set up the machinery. Malaixa had long tidied up the room so that it won’t raise any suspicions. She also told Zahhak to not make any noise. The workers continued setting things up without a sound. Soon, it was completed.
Worker [Japanese] : “Alright, we’ve finished setting up the machinery for VR gaming. If you want to know how to use it, just check the instruction manual. We’re leaving now.”
Maid [Japanese] : “Okay. Thank you very much.”
Indeed, the machinery was the console used for virtual reality gaming. It was promised to Malaixa 7 years ago, before she entered elementary school. In that period of time, VR was continuously improved. However, VRMMOs are still a faraway thing. Malaixa then motioned for the maid to leave the room, and now she was alone. Except for Zahhak.
Zahhak [OWL] : “So? Why did you even want a VR machine? I had thought you could probably create one from scratch yourself?”
Malaixa [OWL] : “Don’t be foolish. I need to examine one first.”
Malaixa proceeded to examine every detail of the machinery, and she slowly came to understand how it worked. Now, she can indeed build one from scratch like Zahhak had said.
Malaixa [OWL] : “So this is how it works… Zahhak, can you connect with this machine?”
Zahhak [OWL] : “Sure, but if you’re entering it, I don’t think I would be able to make contact with you.”
Malaixa frowned. She had understood the security program that came with the machine. It was indeed very difficult to mess with when someone was in it.
Malaixa [OWL] : “No matter. Install the games that we got in the past few days.”
Zahhak [OWL] : “Roger!”
In the past few days, instead of buying the VR games, Malaixa had been busy hacking into the different companies. Through hacking, she received the original copies of the games rather than the ones that were meant for the public. Even now, the companies that had been hacked were still unaware that their games had been stolen. It was thanks to Zahhak, who helped cover Malaixa’s tracks.
Installing the different games onto the machine, she could now access them. For the whole day, she spent time familiarising herself with the VR environment. The different games had different levels of realism, from 87% up to 95%. But why had the games not gone beyond 95% realism? The answer was easily found on the Internet; If the VR games were too real, the human body would not be able to differentiate between VR and actual reality. Thus, a certain level of falsehood was maintained.
After spending the whole day in a VR environment, Malaixa got out of the machine. It was widely recommended that one spend at most 12 hours straight in a VR environment, and then resting for an hour. For teenagers under the age of 16, the machine will automatically stop and release the user when it has been in use for more than 12 hours straight, so that they do not spend too much time playing. Malaixa, upon being released, started speaking.
Malaixa [OWL] : “So this is virtual reality… Hahaha… I can indeed realise my plans through this… Hahahahaha…”
Zahhak, having known Malaixa for a few years now, naturally realises that it should not speak here. Should it interrupt Malaixa, she would probably get mad. Of course, it doesn’t fear her anger, but it doesn’t want her to get mad regardless.
==================================================================================
Soon, middle school started. Lemir had found out which class he was in a few days ago. Coincidentally, he happened to be in the same class as Arata and Luke again. He also spotted another name he recognises in his class. It was Malaixa.
Although Lemir had never interacted much with Malaixa in elementary school, he knew that Malaixa consistently had the best grades throughout elementary school. However, she rarely interacted with her classmates, but Lemir knew how she looked like. The name reminds him of something he doesn’t want to remember too, but he decided to not let it bother him when they interact in the future.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
When he arrived at the classroom, he noticed Arata and Luke already chatting. He entered the classroom, but everyone else just stared at him quietly, as he had grown again to the height of 1.75m. It was an abnormal height for a 13 year old, and everyone just stared at him.
“Ah, this hasn’t happened in a while…”, Lemir thought. The last time everyone stared at him because of his height was when he woke up late and went to school at the same time as the younger elementary students, which frightened most of them.
Arata and Luke and noticed the silence, before realising that Lemir was here. They waved for him to come over, as they had realised why the class was suddenly silent.
Arata [Japanese] : “Man, this sure hasn’t happened in a while.”
Luke [Japanese] : “Right. I thought the teacher had arrived or something, but it was just Lemir.”
Lemir [Japanese] : “Stop making fun of me, you two. In fact, Luke, you look pretty conspicuous too, you know.”
Indeed, as Lemir said, Luke was attracting quite a bit of attention from the girls. Luke was naturally good looking, and his foreign looks also attracted a lot of attention. In fact, if both Luke and Lemir sat next to each other, Luke would be the one attracting more attention.
Luke [Japanese] : “I guess they think it’s a sin for me to be too handsome.”
Arata [Japanese] : “Yeah, right! As if! But taking that into account, aren’t I the most plain looking person in our group?”
Lemir [Japanese] : “Maybe when compared with us, I suppose…”
Despite what Lemir and Arata had said, Arata was actually pretty good looking for a 13 year old Japanese boy. It was just that when he was compared to Luke and Lemir, he loses out and becomes the plain looking person in their group.
Naturally, with Lemir joining them, their group now attracts a lot of attention. At this moment, Malaixa entered the classroom. As everyone was focused on Lemir’s group, nobody noticed Malaixa. Soon, the bell rang for homeroom, and the teacher came in.
==================================================================================
The bell rang for the end of school, and everyone started chatting with the friends they just made, as well as the people they were interested in when they introduced themselves during homeroom.
Lemir [Japanese] : “Gah, Math got harder again…!”
Arata [Japanese] : “I always wonder why you have such great troubles with Math.”
Luke [Japanese] : “It’s one of the Seven Mysteries of our group.”
Arata [Japanese] : “Eh? There are seven? What are the others?”
Luke [Japanese] : “I don’t know. Maybe one of them is that box your older brother keeps under his bed?”
Arata [Japanese] : “That isn’t even a part of our group anymore!”
The three of them continued chatting like this, as school had already ended. They also chatted a bit with the people who came to talk with them. But soon, only the three of them were left in the classroom.
Arata [Japanese] : “Ah, Lemir. Don’t you need to get home? You always jogged home around this time.”
Lemir [Japanese] : “Oh, it’s fine today. It’s the first day of school after all. I’ll just have to go faster later.”
Luke [Japanese] : “As hardworking as ever. Anyway, Arata. Do you plan on joining a club?”
Arata [Japanese] : “Yeah, I’m probably gonna go for the photography club. It was the club my older brother was in, and he said I should join it.”
Luke [Japanese] : “I see. I’m probably gonna go join a sports club. What about you Lemir?”
Arata [Japanese] : “I don’t think Lemir will be joining any club at all.”
Lemir [Japanese] : “Nope. I need the time for training.”
Luke [Japanese] : “Man, all you think about is training. You won’t ever get a girlfriend like that!”
“As expected, the topic went to this again.”, Lemir thought. Whenever the topic was about Lemir not having time for anything but training, it usually led to Luke or Arata saying that he won’t ever get a girlfriend. This never bothered Lemir, but it can be annoying at times. So he opted to escape.
Lemir [Japanese] : “Well, disregarding that, I should get home now. See ya tomorrow!”
Luke [Japanese] : “Ah! He’s running away!”
Arata [Japanese] : “Oh well. Just let him go. We should head home too.”
==================================================================================
On the way home, Lemir was once again using the time to think.
Lemir [OWL] : “Well, in any case, I’m in middle school now. With 2 good friends, and such a peaceful environment, I never would have been able to imagine this in my previous life.”
With his previous life as a wandering swordsman, with the world in chaos because of demons, it was hard to imagine such a peaceful world.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t Malaixa also in the class? She should be lonely, without any friends. I’ll speak to her tomorrow.”, Lemir thought. He occasionally doesn’t speak out his thoughts, but most of them were irrelevant. But Lemir wouldn’t expect this to cause a huge commotion in the future…
End Chapter 12