“Did you hear? That hot senior from the football team is dating Sarah!” A girl in the class starts up the latest gossip, her voice buzzing with excitement.

“Hmm, is that true?” A girl with short hair, her bangs covering her forehead, responds without much interest.

“Yes! You see, blah blah blah.” The gossipy girl continues, diving into every detail.

Lia stared out the window, half-listening. To be honest, I don’t care about any of this. All I want is for class to end so I can hit the cybercafe and play games.

What’s so interesting about romance anyway? Is it even real? Or just some over-exaggerated nonsense from movies and drama to make more money? Just a social status boost? Or maybe some sad excuse for an escape from real life?

I’m not interested in romance or relationships, sounds like an interruption to my peace. Love? Sure, I love food, snacks, and games. But romance? Sappy movies? I just fell asleep. My escape mechanism? I’ve got my own ways to relax, thank you very much.

Honestly, I’d rather be out there shooting monsters in a game. Why won’t my family let me train to become a Vanguard? Or even a Helper? Anything would be so much fun than this endless high school routine. And this gossip… ugh, it’s so draining.

Oh well, at least they let me play games without caring what I do. And today, that new game drops! Should I ditch class? Yeah, definitely.

“Wow, that sounds so interesting!” she said, feigning enthusiasm. “But sorry, I gotta run to the toilet. See ya!”

Using color abilities in school is forbidden, well, at least the attack ones. But they won’t know I’m teleporting out to a cybercafe for an hour or so. Locking herself in a toilet stall, she smirked. I’ll just say I’m on my period or something if anyone asks.

Her eyes glowed white as she focused on a spot she knew well. In an instant, she disappeared from the stall and reappeared in a back alley near the cybercafe.

She skipped toward the entrance, humming with excitement. I wonder if that cute kid will be here today. We play games together all the time, but this one has a strict age restriction tho. I’d gladly sponsor him if he wanted! Wait… maybe I’ll just get my payment by pinching his cheeks, like usual. Hehe~

Now that I’m here, I should check if the new VR gear is ready. I paid a lot just to rent it today, so it better be worth it!

She entered the cybercafe, eyes lighting up as she spotted the staff setting up the new VR gear.

“I guess I’m a little early.” She muttered, grinning as her excitement building.

The staff noticed her arrival. “Ah, Miss, you’re here! Follow me, and I’ll set up your seat.”

“Ohhh, can I sit there already? The build quality looks amazing!” She was impressed by the craftsmanship of the new VR gear.

“Yes.” The staff explained. “The server isn’t open yet, but we recommend players to get comfortable first.”

She looked around eagerly, admiring every detail, the setup was sleek and polished, and the new tech gleamed under the lights. As she settled into the seat, the padding was so soft and comfortable that her eyelids began to droop. Before she knew it, she’d drifted off.

A voice stirred her from sleep. “Want to sit there for a bit?”

She blinked awake, surprised to find she’d dozed off. Scanning the room, she realized the cybercafe had become much more crowded. Then, her gaze landed on a familiar face across the room, the cute young boy she’d been hoping to see. Instantly, her drowsiness vanished, her eyes wide with excitement.

* * *

“What does this button do?” A curious kid approached the power button next to the young boy’s seat.

“Noo! Don’t touch that!” the staff shouted in panic. But the kid’s finger was already reach over the button, too fast for the warning.

The young boy, wearing the VR headset, suddenly slumped back into the seat, lying completely still as if he were sleeping.

“Is he… in the game?” the girl asked, a concerned look on her face.

The VR gear, which had been malfunctioned before and refuse to power up, suddenly flickered to life.

The staff rushed to check the boy’s condition, checking his breathing, pulse and everything else.

Meanwhile, a crowd of kids began to gather around, their worry mounting. The boy who had pushed the button started to cry, guilt twisting his face.

“I’m s-sworyyyy…” his voice trembled, and the other kids, now equally worried, muttered their own apologies, unsure what had gone wrong.

The staff reassured them after a moment of checking. “It’s alright, his condition seems normal. Each VR headset has a monitoring system for emergencies, so he’s fine. There’s no need to worry.”

“Can we remove the headset and wake him up?” the girl asked, her worry still evident.

“No, it looks like he’s in the waiting lobby. We can’t remove the headset until the system completes syncing, which takes about two hours.” The staff explained.

“But won’t the age restriction be a problem for him?” she asked again with concern.

“Well…” the staff hesitated, glancing over at the owner, who had come over in response to the commotion. “We’ll take full responsibility if anything happens. If there’s an emergency, we’ll remove the headset. But that’s unlikely. It’s just a game, right?” they added, trying to reassure themselves as much as the others.

It was almost time for the server to open. Every player had donned their VR headsets, ready to enter the game.

The girl felt a mix of excitement, worry, and happiness. She was thrilled to play the game with the young boy, but at the same time, a nagging sense of concern tugged at her. She worried about the potential effects the game might have on him, though she knew the boy’s personality well. In the end, she was still glad he would get to play, it was something he’d been looking forward to.

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“The game will start in one minute, Good luck and have fun.” The staff said, turning on the power to all seven VR headsets.

The girl’s heart raced with anticipation. She could hardly contain her excitement as the countdown began.

* * *

“Wow, this is a shitty game.” A nine-year-old girl exclaimed as she fell off a cliff.

When I entered the game, I woke up as a baby. Being a baby again is actually pretty funny. You can pull so many pranks without being held accountable. Slap ugly faces, puke on people you don’t like, and get fed whenever you feel like it. Baby simulator is way more fun than I thought.

I grew up in a family of knights, which I thought was cool at first because now I can fight monsters without a care in the world.

Three years in, and nothing. Lmao. Time passes like it does in real life. Who the heck designed this game? Wow so cool developer.

The world here is all medieval fantasy, or at least that’s how it feels in my part of it. Very old-school high fantasy vibes.

The game tries so hard to be realistic, like, you can feel pain for real? I swear, I can still feel the pain from when I fell down the stairs.

And you know what else is oh so “ultra-realistic” in this game? The people. The misogyny. What year is this, anyway? You’re telling me women can’t be knights? You can’t be serious. Even in real life, women are independent and capable. There are plenty of high-ranked Vanguards and Helpers who are women.

With my family in the game, my dad’s a knight and my mom’s a villager, you’d think I’d be stuck playing the “villager” role too, right? Because that’s women’s work? But when I said I wanted to become a ranger which is upgraded class from villager, they laughed at me.

Hah, what a joke. This game is way too real.

I didn’t care what anyone around me said. I decided to follow the path of a knight. Why? Because it’s so cool. “Excaliburrrr!”

By the time I was nine, I’d already won plenty of duels against my peers. Sure, I lost at first, but those losses were strategic. Just because most knights were men didn’t mean a woman like me couldn’t dominate the field.

“You need to win before the match even begins.” I always told myself.

I trained hard, I won a lot, and it didn’t matter that this game had no guides, no tutorials whatever. For me it was all about having fun.

“Well seeing how you all coming here to ambush me, I guess you don’t have the guts for a proper duel.” The young girl sneered, pointing her spear at the tress, aware of the presence hiding behind them.

She often trained here alone. The pride of the other young knights wouldn’t let a girl best them, so today they’d schemed to catch her off guard, knowing her usual routine.

“As if a girl like you could be a knight.” One of them taunted.

“You’re a girl. Go back to the kitchen.” Another jeered.

“Just stay at home and play with your dolls.” One more added, smirking.

They tried to ridicule her for her gender.

Normally, she wouldn’t care about insults from kids. She even thought they were cute sometimes. But today, something snapped. The mocking words hit a nerve, and for the first time, she was genuinely pissed off.

Misogyny was one of the things she couldn’t tolerate. Whether they were kids or adults, that kind of behavior was unforgivable to her.

“Stupid kids, get ready for education!” she gripped her spear, positioning it with precision.

Facing ten young knights was like fighting a bunch of monster mobs in a game. She rushed at the smallest one, delivering a quick thrust that sent him crashing to the ground, unconscious.

Two others tried to thrust at her in sync, but she easily dodged, leaping and landing on their spears before kicking both of their heads off in a smooth spin.

Three more tried to surround her, launching consecutive thrusts. She moved like liquid, dodging every strike with fluid, effortless motions.

“Too slow.” She taunted, smirking.

She led their attacks into each other, and with a quick twist, their spears locked together, trapping them. In one swift motion, she knocked all three to the ground, unconscious.

She pointed a finger at the four remaining knights, daring them to come at her.

“No balls?” She mocked.

Two of them hesitated, backing off in fear, realizing they were out of her league.

The other two, rage by her taunt, rushed at her with reckless aggression. She planted the spear tip in the ground, using it to launch herself into the air. With the force of gravity, she twisted and delivered a fatal attack to the first knight’s chest.

"Lia's Ultimate Sky Kick!"

Now, only one remained. The last knight, trembling in fear, fell to his knees as she slowly advanced toward him. Overcome with terror, he wet himself.

Shocked, she kicked his face instinctively, sending him sprawling.

“Ptoo, disgusting.” She spat on the ground beside him, her expression twisted with disgust.

Leaving the unconscious bodies of the young knights behind, she turned to head home. But then, she felt it, a much more imposing threat.

She instantly broke into a run, trying to avoid the ambush. But before she could realize, they lead her towards a dead end. A cliff.

Three adult knights emerged from the forest, their spears raised, blocking her escape.

“Wow, adults picking on a young child. That’s pathetic.” She sneered sarcastically.

“You shouldn’t have beaten my brother.” One of the men growled. “That was an insult to our noble family.”

The second man leered at her. “Actually, now that I look closer… you’re quite pretty. How about we have a little fun with you first?”

The third knight smirked darkly. “A young girl like you should know the consequences of wandering alone in the forest.”

The girl’s stomach churned with disgust. These adult NPCs were acting like real monsters, and it made her skin crawl. Her face twisted as if she was gonna puke right there.

The three knights inched closer, and she instinctively backed toward the cliff’s edge, knowing she had no way out.

But then, in a split second, the anger boiled over.

She hurled her spear like a javelin at the man who’d spoken the worst words. It flew through the air with deadly precision.

The men weren’t ready for it. The spear struck sharp, embedding itself deep in the groin of the man who had taunted her. Perfectly cutting off the nuts.

The shock on his face was immediate. He staggered back, hands clutching at his crotch trying to pull the spear as he fell to the ground, his face contorted in agony.

He wouldn’t be having fun anymore.

Hoping to catch her and avenge their dying friend, the knights rushed after her, but she gave them the middle finger without a second thought.

Then, without hesitation, she threw herself off the cliff.

“Wow, this is a shitty game.” She muttered, the wind whipping her hair as she descend. “I’m gonna beat the shit out of whoever designed this disgusting game.”

She briefly considered using her color abilities to escape, but then the thought hit her, what if she died in this game? What would happen then?

Oh well, she thought. Let’s just die.

Her body crashed into the ground with a sickening thud. The impact shattered her bones, the sharp force of the fall snapping her limbs and splintering her skull. Blood splattered across the earth as her eyeball popped free from its socket, flying through the air.

“Shi—“

The word died on her lips as everything went dark. She didn’t even get a chance to finish her last words.

Or so she thought.

Her body began piecing itself back together, bone by bone, skin-reforming, every crushed part reconnecting in an agonizing process. It was as if she had only been unconscious for a moment, but when she opened her eyes, it was already nighttime.

“That hurt… it hurt so much.” She whispered, her voice shaking. A wave of pain washed over again as she recalled the experience, feeling as if she had truly died.

“Stupid game! Stupid game! Stupid game!” she cried louder, fists pounding against the dirt. “I just want to go home.” She’d thought death might send her back, but the agony had been far too real.

Then, a new fear swallows her mind, the boy who’d entered the game beside her. If the pain was this intense, what would he be going through?

“No, no, no.” Tears welled up as she imagined the boy feeling the same agonizing pain she’d just endured. The thought of him suffering like that made her heart ache.

“I have to find him. I have to make sure he’s safe.”

Barely able to stand, her legs trembling beneath her, she pulled herself up, fueled by a single purpose. Her “family” in this world didn’t matter to her, but the boy did. He was real, and she needed to protect him from whatever pain this twisted game might bring.

“As a knight.” She whispered, the words giving her strength, “I will protect you.”