[Welcome back, user Rahel. Do you want to connect to Grande Road?]

“Yes.” 

[As you wish. Please pick a character. ]

In Grande Road, you can make 3 different characters in one game account. Rose, or rather Rahel, has only made one character in her account. 

One of her characters stood still on the left, two empty spots on the right. 

Without any hesitation she walked towards her one and only character who wore a mask and a red cloak. She altered her appearance to her liking, she changed her hair color to pink and made it shorter into a curly bob. Her short and petite figure went well with her hair. She thought it looked cute. 

At , her character looked veteran. All her equipment were originally cursed so they required a great deal of work to acquire, and months worth of gameplay to gain a Priest's trust to bless.

She gently placed her hand on her character’s head,  and the once dim room grew brighter.

In a flash, Rahel was teleported to .

The first thing Rahel always did after logging in was to tend to her in game house. Her contract with a goblin slave came to an end a day ago and since she had to wait a week before being able to reform the contract, Rahel had to feed her pet manually.

"Oh look how cute you are!" Rahel exclaimed as she stroke the mane of her cat-like Ice Lion she specificially stole from his mother after killing her.

Neko was just a cub then, so it was not difficult to max out his affection level. All she had to do everyday was feed, play and stroke him until he was satisfied.

Neko let out powerful purrs that convinced Rahel how loved she was in game. In real life, Rose was terrified of felines since she could not see their affection level.

After attending Neko, Rahel went to visit her favourite book cafe to meditate. It was located in a very remote place so not a lot of players know of the place. The peace and wisdom she received from simply breathing the air from the cafe was enough to turn Rahel into a book reading addict. 

She picked a spot upstairs and began turning the pages of a book she's subscribed to. Players were also allowed to write stories as a career, if the book is a public favourite, the author receives royalty every week.

The author of the story,  was Rahel's favourite. He or she always knew how to tug the heartstring of the readers. Rahel cried countless times reading the said person's works.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The book Rahel's currently smitten with tells the story of a boy whose love was unrequited for his sister, whom he separated from since birth Truly an unrelatable and incestuous story, but she would still read it if it was done by Wither. She would really like to become friends with the person.

She logged out after a very fulfilling day.

 vvvv

He sat at his usual spot inside the lecture hall, scoping that silhouette he has grown to like ever since his college days started.

Rose Winters was a mystery to him. She was rumored to have come from an abusive family and she now lives alone with a wealthy man in his building. There were also those who claimed that she was actually married and has two children who were fraternal twins. One so-called rumour that caught Cane’s attention was that she was a high level player in the VRMMORPG .  

Cane could feel that he and Rose were on a similar wavelength, socially speaking. They both were people of little words and don’t have many friends that would be considered as close. They also spend a great deal of time playing .

Cane had his own reason to being the person he is today. He was brought up in a family of 10 children. Cane, as the fifth child never got the attention and love needed from his parents to make him socially adapt. He suspected that his parents were probably bored after the fourth child was born and left all the care-taking to their earlier children. Cane felt responsible as an elder brother to five of his less fortunate younger siblings and vowed to give them the love he never received as a child.

As a result, young Cane did not have time to bond with the children his age due to how busy his childhood was.

Today’s Cane was a reflection of his past, and he knew it was the same for Rose Winters as well.

As soon as she stepped into the lecture hall, everyone’s eyes were glued to the one person who was interesting in college. She walked with poise, not acknowledging the stares that she had to deal with every single morning. She also sat in her usual spot and minded her own business, convincing Cane that they were more similar than he initially thought.

Cane is usually indifferent towards other people but Rose Winters was an exception. Every time they were paired together in a certain class, he would break in cold sweat and spoke in periods. Somehow his usually calm demeanor was shattered whenever he was in close proximity with Rose.

This eventually led him to be wary of Rose Winters, who was one of the few lot who managed to shake his core.

As soon as class was finished, Cane visited a Game Stop where he can log into his account and play to his heart’s content. The woman in charge there was one of Cane’s many elder sisters, so he didn’t have to pay. Although she did forcefully logged him out once for playing too long during his adolescence, now as an adult, she lets him do whatever he wants.  

He ate a plateful meal with his sister and immediately laid on the to start playing. Cane slowly drifted into a slumber and was woken up by an AI voice in an entirely virtual world.