My dad picked Deux up with a grin and stood up, then drew it in a smooth motion and held it up. "Well, well, well. I never expected to see this guy again," he said, admiring its sheen before beaming at me. "I guess you're the one who found him, huh."

"So let me get this straight, Masamane is my grandfather, and you're the one who came up with the gimmicks for these incredibly -useful- swords, Dad?" I asked.

"Yup! Amazing, aren't they?" he declared proudly, sheathing Deux again.

"She's being sarcastic, dear," said my mum helpfully.

"So am I," he shot back. "You can have it back. I have a better sword. A non-talking one."

"Ohhh, my heart," said Deux in a miserable voice, despite the fact it was literally lacking a heart. "You're abandoning me again so soon?"

I ignored it and shook my head. "I'm happy with Eins, thanks. You can keep that one, since it seems to like you anyway. And your story doesn't explain how Mum or Grandma came into the picture."

"Ah, so you want to learn about our love story. Isn't that a bit early for–“ He paused and glanced at Masa. “–ok, maybe you're old enough to hear it. Things started when I met this girl named Eve at a camp."

I covered my eyes with both hands. "Ugh, spare me the gory details, just give us the gist, please?"

My dad looked miffed, so my mum cut in and summarised the series of events. Her interest was piqued by this strange boy who was surprisingly good at survival skills and when she approached him, she found him funny and easy to talk to. They continued seeing each other after the camp and my dad wanted to show off, so he showed her another world. Way to go, Dad…

My mum was afraid at first, but soon found out she had an innate talent for Conjuration. They travelled around Shyi'eld with the aid of my dad's Transportation and even earned a bit of money as mercenaries. Mum's family wasn't very well-to-do, so she was pleased with the additional income she could contribute to her family. However, when my grandma found out that my mother was secretly earning money, she demanded to know the source since she was afraid my mum was doing something illegal. And so, my parents decided to bring her to Shyi'eld as well.

Yay, now the whole immediate family's in the know. Except me, for some reason. Apparently my parents wanted to settle down and have a normal life on Earth once I was born. At least at first. Then my grandfather the swordsmith died and my dad inherited the house in Malaysia. They probably assumed that it was inevitable I would discover the connection to Shyi'eld. Strange that they didn't worry about the dangers of letting their teenage daughter wander around without any assistance. Or maybe they didn't think I would be brave enough to venture in on my own?

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Frankly, I don't think he really passed away," said my dad with a shake of his head, interrupting my meandering thoughts. "That old coot probably thought maintaining the house was too much of a hassle and left it to me before disappearing somewhere in Shyi'eld."

"Coot?"

For some reason, Masa reacted to that word. We all gave him strange looks until I realised what the problem was. Ah, right, that was the name of a bird, wasn't it?

The Japanese boy turned red and looked away when I explained it was only a turn of phrase. Sho cute! Ahem. Anyway…

"What about your Levels, then?" I asked my parents. "I had the impression that this 'game' was only set up recently. How did your Levels get so high so quickly?"

My parents exchanged glances. "What do you mean by Levels?" asked my mum. "Is that some computer game jargon?"

Now it was Masa and my turn to exchange looks. How could they not know about Levels? It was true my mum didn't have the Inspect Skill, but my dad had Identify, which I assumed was a higher version of it or at least something similar. "Wait, do you guys know about the game at all?" I asked. "Where a player is supposed to kill monsters to level up and stuff?"

They still looked blank. "What about Feyril? Do you know an elf named Feyril?" I persisted, hoping we could find some common ground.

My dad laughed at that. "An elf? You've been reading too much fantasy, girling," he said. "There may be magic in Shyi'eld, but there are no longer any elves, or dwarves, for that matter."

"What? But I've seen him with my own eyes and talked to him!" I exclaimed. "Wait, you said 'no longer’…”

My dad nodded. "From what I learnt of Shyi'eldian history, other humanoid races were wiped out in interracial wars. If any still exist, they would certainly hide themselves and avoid interacting with humans. Maybe you just met a clever Illusionist."

"No way…” My illusions about the other world were certainly crumbling.

"Dear, remember those small humanoids we encountered the last time we were there?" said my mum suddenly.

"Ah, the ugly ones that attacked for no reason. I think those were called 'goblins' though, not elves," said my dad with a frown. Then he seemed to realise something. "Oh! They turned to dust and disappeared after we were forced to put them down. And there were some strangely huge bugs as well. Were those the monsters you were referring to?"

So the monsters were also man-made? I mean, since they said it was a game, I had guessed that certain parts of the system were artificial, but still… What about the Levels, Statuses and Skills then? Was everything we experienced so far just a big illusion?

I glanced at Masa, but he was sitting quietly with a frown on his face. He had wanted to find out the truth, but now that we knew all this, what was he planning to do? W-would he just quit the game? What about me? What did I want to do now?