Chapter 1 (1/2)

SECT.1 - Karen's Gloom

When Kohiruimaki Karen returned to the real world――

The thin digital radio clock hanging on the wall displayed 18th January 2026; 17:49.

It was a room of an apartment house(1) with no one else in it. The six jou(2) bedroom, which had a sliding door connecting it to the ten jou living room, was a s.p.a.cious room. The sun had set on the other side of the window, so it was dark, and an LED light was used as a pale night light.

The wallpapers were all of a composed white colour. There was a s.h.a.ggy, cream-coloured carpet laid on the living room floor, and there was a largish table with very short legs, and somecus.h.i.+ons at the centre of the carpet. A large mirror was placed in a corner of the room.

Textbooks and reference books were neatly lined up by subject on the bookshelves along the walls. It was an orderly, tidy room that gave the impression that she was the lord of the house.

With the sliding door currently open, the living room and bedroom were integrated, and a wooden low bed was placed in this integrated room. A wide wardrobe was placed along the wall, opposite the window.

Karen raised the upper half of her body from the bed. She then took off the machine that carried the five senses into a game world――the ≪AmuSphere≫, and then carefully placed it on the right side of her pillow.

Dressed in pale yellow pyjamas, Karen lowered her feet toward the left side of the bed, and extended her left hand to the edge of the wall. The sensors installed there detected her hand, and caused the room’s lights to come on bit by bit.

After waiting for 5 seconds so that her eyes got used to the brightness, Karen slowly stood up. Walking two steps with her bare feet, she moved from the bedroom to the living room. There was a clothes hanger to the side of the mirror. There, a „thing that wasn’t clothes“ hung from the hanger.

Karen took that thing into her hands and faced the mirror.

“…………”

There, she saw herself, displeased.

A tall, 183 cm in height, woman with black, long hair.

Herself, holding a black plastic air gun in her hands―― the P90 that was held in place with the support of her chest that now looked awfully small.

Karen’s mouth slowly moved.

“Squad Jam …… What should I do. A personal battle in teams, huh…… I’m kinda reluctant……”

Kohiruimaki Karen was brought up without a care in the world.

Her parents, who hailed from the Aomori prefecture, moved to Hokkaido and opened a business which achieved success within the same generation. They were also blessed with children: two boys, two girls and then, several years later, on 20 April 2006, the youngest child, Karen, was born.

Brought up in a loving environment, like a princess, by her parents and her four elder siblings in their affluent home in the northern region, the growing Karen―― grew too much. In height.

Her height, which started continuously growing since her third year in primary school, exceeded 170 cm when she graduated. It was as if Karen’s wish not to grow any more was not heard by G.o.d.

In the end, the currently nineteen year-old Karen, who continued growing even through middle school, was 183 cm tall. If this was a foreign country, there would probably be plenty of females like that. However, this was j.a.pan.

Karen’s parents, siblings and close friends understood Karen’s feelings, so they never spoke about her height, but the people in their society were not so kind.

In both her middle school and high school, Karen received useless invitations from sports clubs that she had no interest in. Karen only had an ordinary apt.i.tude, so she was fed up with the invitations that did not respect her wishes.

If she walked around town, there were truly many people who cruelly teased her as „giant girl”, and insulted her out loud on purpose.

And so, despite how much she grieved and moaned over this, she could no longer do anything about it.

The tall figure complex since p.u.b.erty changed her feminine nature. Karen, the girl who was the very image of childish innocence and cheerfulness, and was sometimes mistaken for a boy, no longer spoke with anyone aside from those close to her, secluding herself to reading and music, and becoming a completely introverted person.

Although she started growing out her black hair to look at least slightly more girlish, it didn't change anything, in fact, if she missed the timing to cut her hair, it would become troublesome putting it in order every morning.

Her large height also affected her choice of clothes.

Karen gave up entirely on feminine fas.h.i.+on, and chose only to wear rough and simple garments.

One year ago, Karen graduated from high school and came to Tokyo. She was expected to go to a local university from her parent’s home, but, as she had nothing to lose, she tried her luck at the leading ojou-sama school in j.a.pan, and ended up pa.s.sing the examination. Her parents were extremely happy, and Karen borrowed a room in a high-cla.s.s apartment house in the metropolitan area where her eldest sister lived.

Hoping that something might change even if a little, from April, 2025, Karen began her solitary life in Tokyo.

What awaited Karen, who began going to a notable women’s university, was obviously an unpleasant reality.

As expected, age did its thing, so Karen wasn’t openly teased about her height, but―― Karen wasn’t suited for the „normal female university student life“ that glorified youth activities, likefas.h.i.+on, circles, and dates.

Moreover, in this escalator university, the majority of students were those who came from kindergarten and elementary sections of the school. As expected, in the end, Karen didn’t find any friends, around whom she could relax her guard. Of course, Karen’s introverted personality, and the resulting lack of actively talking to people, were also at fault.

Karen spent each day attending lectures, eating lunch alone, not taking off her headphones in her free time, returning to her apartment house and then spending her time alone in her room.

Her interaction with other people was limited to her family and friends in her home town. The only people that she was able to have a friendly chat with consisted of only her elder sister, her sister’s spouse, and her niece. She was forbidden to find a part-time job by her parents. However, because of that, she did receive an inexhaustible allowance.

If she had went on just a little longer without a social life, she might even forget how to socialise with people――, harbouring such a fear, Karen was absent-mindedly viewing the news on theInternet while visiting her parents during her summer holiday when one article caught her eye.

The heading was――『Virtual Reality (VR) Online Games, from Revival to Prosperity. People’s Desire to Enjoy Another Life Is Unending』

After a special device is mounted on one’s head, the device exchanges information about the senses with the brain via electrical signals, thus one can experience all the five senses as if actually being in that world――, that was VR technology.

A game using this FullDive technology to allow a large number of people to partic.i.p.ate in it simultaneously via the Internet is a VR game.

Even Karen knew about the existence of such a thing.

There probably weren’t any people who didn’t know about it. After all, 3 years ago in November 2022, when Karen was in the first year of high school, a major incident that not only shook j.a.pan, but the whole world as well.

≪Sword Art Online≫――abbreviated as SAO.

The name of the world’s first VR・MMORPG (Ma.s.sively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).

Due to the ill will of a single genius developer, it became a dreadful prison.

The ten thousand players who logged in on the very day the official service of the game began were imprisoned in that VR world.

They became unable to voluntarily leave the game.

And that wasn’t the end. If a character inside the game died, or if someone in the real world tried to forcibly take off the device mounted on the player’s head, the player’s brain would be fried and the player would really die, that was the literal „death game“ that was enforced.

Right after the incident, it made the news every day, but as the means for rescue weren’t achieved, at times it became excessive. Every time a new casualty appeared, the news would only cover the respective death.

Before long, aside from those who had someone precious trapped inside, people gradually forgot about the incident.

2 years later, in November, 2024, when Karen was studying extra hard for her university examinations, SAO again made the news. The cheerful news that the people trapped in the death game were released.

However, as a result, four thousand people had lost their lives, and thus SAO ended up s.h.i.+ning radiantly as „the game which killed the most people in the world“.

‘Now such dangerous game will finally disappear’, the only ones who thought like that were people who didn’t like VR games. While the players were still trapped in the game, a „this time, safe“ new-model device was offered for sale and a new game was announced.

The news article reported:

『Now, in the summer of 2025, the number of VR games continues to increase. Naturally, theplayer population has also surged, and this prosperity seems to imply that everyone has ended up forgetting about that repulsive incident in the not-so-distant past.

Games that can be enjoyed with the five senses have brought about more virtual realities than ever before; can the ability to simply enjoy „another self“ truly bring such people human growth and genuine happiness? If one wants to feel something with one’s five senses, shouldn’t they just cast aside their personal computers and go outside with their flesh and blood? Like children once healthily did in the countryside?

Isn’t there a chance that, before long, the youths growing accustomed to fictional worlds, where they do not even feel real pain, will commit a crime beyond the imagination of adults? I await calm discussions.』

That was an article, full of the reporter’s prejudice and unpleasant feelings, that downright criticised VR games, but…

“„Another self“……”

To Karen, the resulting impact was the exact opposite.

Karen thought.

That if she became a different self inside a game, then she could probably communicate with other people a bit. And that this would probably have the effect like that of rehabilitation in the real world.

Karen, who up till now had no interest in VR games whatsoever, looked it up from scratch. Knowing that one of her few friends in her hometown was currently playing one, she met up with her and asked her.

The friend, named Miyu, said:

“What’s that you say! I’m so glad that I’m getting more game partners!”

Pleasantly surprised, she taught Karen a lot of things.

Karen understood that, at the very least, the current VR games were definitely not as dangerous as SAO. So, she decided to play one.

Although she decided to do it and figured that she should „strike the iron while it’s hot“, it didn’t seem like her elderly parents would allow it in their home, so Karen concluded her visit ahead of time and returned to Tokyo.

She went to a consumer electronics emporium straight from the Haneda Airport and got her hands on the necessities.

Firstly, the huge, silver-coloured goggle-like AmuSphere.

This machine would intercept all senses that it received, and would send fictional senses to the brain.

In other words, the operation of the device would be something like a trance, but there were numerous safety devices in the AmuSphere.

Although the device intercepts real senses, it does have monitors. If they sensed that the user’s pulse rate has drastically increased, or that the user’s breathing has stopped for a long period, or bodily disorders like headaches and stomach aches, the machine was set to activate the automatic shut-down feature; this feature could not be disabled.

Additionally, it also had the function of allowing home security systems like burglar alarms and fire alarms, as well as disaster prevention news, like emergency earthquake reports and tsunami warnings to be linked to the device to have it return the user to the real world in case of emergency.

Karen also purchased a game.

What she picked from among the many VR games in existence was a game that Miyu played as well, ≪ALfheim Online≫――abbreviated as ALO

It was a game where one would become a fairy with wings in a fantasy world and have adventures.

“Kohi, I’m sure you’re going to be pleased too! It’s quite common to fight with other races, but that doesn’t mean that you absolutely must fight. Just flying around the beautiful world and talking with people is awfully fun too!”

Just as Miyu had said, the beautiful world depicted in sample photos with its dazzling green forests , and brilliantly blue sky and water increased Karen’s expectations.

If the world was so beautiful in pictures alone, then just how great could it be „inside“ the game? Flying with one’s body alone would have her heart pounding.

While listening to Miyu’s lecture over the phone, Karen finished the setup of the personal computer and AmuSphere, and finally attempted the first FullDive in her life.

As the environment was pleasant, Karen purposefully changed into her pyjamas, closed thecurtains and switched on the air conditioner.

And then she mounted the AmuSphere, which was connected to her personal computer, on her head, lied down in the centre of her bed, and closed her eyes.

“Link, start!”

Finally, immediately after she commanded the device with her voice――

Karen’s entire consciousness was brought to another world.

She felt as if her senses had left her body, like she had fallen asleep, and before she knew it, she was standing in a dark room, listening to a voiced guide.

She understood that this wasn’t reality, and yet her consciousness was very clear. It seemed as if this was a lucid dream (a dream where one perceives that „this is a dream“) where she could move as she pleased.

Calming down after her expectations were surpa.s.sed, Karen followed the instructions of the voiced guide and entered the necessary details using the keyboard floating in the air.

As for her character name, she decided to use „Len“ which parodied her real name, but as for the spelling, in order not to overlap with the names of other characters, she wrote it entirely in upper-case, and also doubled the consonants, so it was written as „ＬＬＥＮＮ“.

Out of the nine races, she figured that she should choose the same one as Miyu, so she chose the wind fairy race, the ≪Sylphs≫. As each player started the game from the territory of their chosen race, she should be able to meet up with Miyu instantly.

Having finished inputting all the details, Karen went to the world of ALO as LLENN.

“W-why!”

And then intensely despaired.

『Sorry! Kohi, I completely forgot that you were troubled by your height…...』

On the other side of the phone call, Miyu earnestly apologised, but the fact that her randomly generated ≪avatar≫, in other words, her other self in the game, was a tall beauty even when compared to other characters of the same race was absolutely not something she could be held accountable for.

LLENN, having seen her appearance in a mirror, was so shocked that her pulse rose rapidly, and the AmuSphere’s safety devices activated, forcibly linking her out just 20 seconds after the gamehad started.

『Well……, this is a bit late, but there are races with short avatars…...Like the cat fairy race, the ≪Cait Sith≫…… Do you want to redo your character generation? Additional charges will be incurred though…...』

Despite Miyu’s proposal, Karen declined.

It wasn’t a problem of money.

Even though the parameters were random, she was shocked by her tall figure, thus the game ALO itself became unpleasant.

Although she wanted to try VR games, she had no intention of returning to ALO. Having been told this, Miyu replied with an apology:

『I see…… It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped, huh. Well, I think that your stubbornness is a virtue, Kohi』

After saying that, her long-time friend offered an alternative solution.

『Say, Kohi, do you know about character ≪conversion≫?』

That was the feature that allowed „moving“ the character LLENN that she had just created to another VR game.

The framework, called ≪The Seed≫ was completely the same for a great majority of VR games. Hence, it was possible to move characters with a single ID.

In such a case, the strengths of a developed character would relatively be pa.s.sed on into the new game.

For example, if one converted a character that had physical strength tempered in some game, even in the new game the person could start with a character that had its physical strength tempered.

Though one’s original character would be deleted, and the items and money in one’s possession would not be carried over―― but, either way, it was not a concern for Karen. The fact that the already-made ID wouldn’t go to waste was a merit.

In that case, it seemed that she would be able to search for the avatar that she wanted.

『It will be a different game, but if you don’t understand something, be sure to ask! If I get my hands on a ticket to Kanzaki Elza’s live performance, I’ll be coming to Tokyo, so I hope you’ll give me a place to stay!』

In the end, Miyu shrewdly arranged for compensation before parting with Karen.

And so, Karen used her ID to connect to various VR games and recklessly went on a character conversion spree.

Nonetheless, she would have to buy the game software each time, so she picked games that had trial periods, in other words, allowed trying it for free.

She no longer cared about the game genre and things like that.

Many VR games had blossomed simultaneously like flowers.

Car race games where one can drive automobiles. Flight simulations where one can fly planes and partic.i.p.ate in air battles. SF(3) adventures about travelling in s.p.a.ce. Games about enjoying numerous sports in virtual reality. Games about making love with beautiful women and girls. Among them, even games where the player would normally „live an everyday life“.

Karen, who knocked on the gates of a great number of VR games, would be displeased with the created avatar at least a bit, and immediately go to create an account in another game.

Her tenacity was so great that it even amazed Miyu who proposed the idea, but Miyu didn’t interfere.

Several days later, LENN,

“I FOUND IIIT!”

Shouted at the starting point of a certain VR game. It was an exclamation at the top of her voice.

In a bizarre world with a crazed dusk-like, ominous colour sky, and where skysc.r.a.pers withmetallic walls were spread disorderly, LLENN’s figure that was reflected in a mirror gla.s.s…

“Yes…… I found it! I found it!”

Was wearing a green combat uniform and was a probably not even 150 cm tall,

“I found it!”

Chibi girl.

Thus, the name of the game that LLENN found herself in――

Was ≪Gun Gale Online≫.

Just as the „gun“ and „gale“ in its name implied, it was a ruined world where characters freely fought with one another―― a world of guns.

November, 2025.

More than three months had pa.s.sed since Karen began playing the game. Winter had arrived at Tokyo as well.

After Karen, who did not have any hobbies, did not have friends in Tokyo, did not partic.i.p.ate in club activities and was forbidden from having a part-time job, attended her lectures, finished the preparations for her lessons, and her revisions――she still had plenty of time for playing.

Weekdays and holidays before her examinations continued to diminish. As she had a methodical personality, Karen precisely decided the time for diving, and continued playing Gun Gale Online――abbreviated as GGO.

VR games, as Miyu said, were „a magnificent and well done virtual s.p.a.ce“.

Although, in the sense that it used and allowed one to experience the five senses to its fullpotential it was no different from reality, a virtual s.p.a.ce was just a virtual s.p.a.ce after all. It would definitely not win against reality in the volume of information that can be exchanged; one would quickly comprehend „which world one is in“.

In other words, there was no need to worry „which one was reality again?“――

In a sense, this is probably a good thing. That’s what Karen thought.

The stage of GGO, ruined after the final war, was an Earth that didn’t even suit the „b“(4) from “beauty”.

No matter if it was sunny or cloudy, and if it was morning or midday, the sky was dyed in the colours of a crazed evening sun, as if it was a brush cleaner with yellow and red colours dissolved in it.

Greenery was extremely scarce in this land, instead, it was overflowing with deserts, wastelands and ruins; a world that was the exact opposite of ALO.

The role the players performed was the people who returned to such an Earth on-board a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.

Hunting rampaging grotesque monsters, crazed machines that attacked people, and, occasionally, relentlessly fighting against fellow players and killing each other. That was GGO.

If she hadn’t got this avatar, Karen would most likely never have played GGO.

The weapons used in the game, just as its name implied, were guns.

In GGO, guns were divided into two categories.

The first was ≪optical guns≫.

Blasters, ray guns, beam rifles, ray gunskōsenjū――there were various ways of calling them, but their structure was identical. With an SF-like fictional appearance and name, they fired energy beams instead of bullets.

Such weapons had the merit of being small and lightweight even with energy packs included, as well as having long range and high accuracy. At the same time, they had the demerit of their rays dealing little damage, and, moreover, in battles against people, it was possible to block a considerable amount of the rays by using an item called a ≪Anti-light bullet defense field≫.

The design of the guns was SF-tic and it looked like the guns were a.s.sembled by combining all the parts in a straight line. Setting-wise, these SF small arms were „what was used inside a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p“.

The other category was ≪Live-ammunition guns≫.

The setting for these guns was that „they were the actual guns, or blueprints for the guns that remained on the desolated Earth“. With permission obtained from the gun makers, existing real guns were reproduced in the game.

Alongside noisy gunshots, bullets with ma.s.s were released. Although, of course, since this was inside a game, it only „seemed that way“.

The merit of such guns was that each bullet had high power and wouldn’t be blocked by defensefields. The demerits were that the trajectory was easily influenced by external factors like the wind, and their magazines were heavy.

Thus, the theory was that optical guns were for battles against monsters. While in battles against humans, it was better to use live-ammunition guns.

That said, there were plenty of gun maniacs in GGO, so there were also people who used nothing but live-ammunition guns even in battles against monsters, as if saying „Screw efficiency!“. For example, those like Pitohui.

However, as for LLENN who scored a chibi avatar――