In a world that's increasingly reliant on virtual reality technology, Ricardo's only wish is to keep his meaningful relationships out of it. But when his sister gets heartbroken again, this time because of her involvement in the Virtual Connection RPG, he is forced to confront the issue and make amends for his past. Ricardo will get into the game, but under his own terms. Taking inspiration in a never-shown-before character from his roleplaying days, he'll uncover what really happened, delivering punishment accordingly. And if he makes others realize how fickle and worthless VR games are, all the better. Fools of Virtual Connection beware, Magical Girl Ilaria is coming for you! [Winner of the Royal Road Writathon Challenge November 2021] extra tag: [character-driven] Virtual Connection: Ilaria is a full rewrite for Virtual Connection (textnovel version). That version is now dropped and not canon for this story, even though I'll retain the premise. This fiction is planned for around 42 chapters, about 2k words each; plus an epilogue/special, which will be released for Valentines 2022. Well, the estimated word count got blown up again by my characters. Right now I expect this fiction to end up having around 50 chapters, which I'll post as I finish them. I'll try for at least one chapter a week but not making any promises. I really want to stick the landing. Regardless, it shouldn't take me past mid 2022. *Cover art by Yatheesh Gowda from Pixabay.