Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

The meeting spot we’d arranged beforehand via whisper chat was a café run by an NPC.

I arrived above it, lowered my altitude, and landed gently, making sure not to forget to hold down my skirt as it billowed up.

*——Hehe. Your eyes are glued to me, so I know you’re hoping to take a peek, but don’t think I’m going to show you that easily. Damn boys.*

With a smile that hinted at embarrassment and a slight wave to those whose eyes were on me as a small token of charm, all while secretly harboring those dark thoughts inside, I made my way to the table where my target was sitting.

Sitting there was a handsome young human man with red hair and a toned physique.

And beside him was a young Celestial who looked like a prince—someone who seemed like my character but a few years older, with sharper eyes—sipping his tea with an excessively dignified air.

They would normally be clad in armor, but since they were in town, they were only wearing the cloth underlayers of their armor.
The way the young Celestial tilted his cup was so perfectly poised that he was practically monopolizing the attention of the women around him. Seeing the awkward expression on the red-haired young human beside him, a mischievous impulse began to stir within me.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting, Sol-niisama. It’s been a while. I’m glad to see you’re in good health as well, Rage-san.”

I lightly tugged at my skirt, bent my knee, smiled, and gave a slight bow.

In stark contrast to Rage, who was frozen in place with his chin resting on his hand like a deer in headlights, the Prince… Sol caught on to my intention, smirked, stood up, and gently placed a hand on my cheek, tilting my face up slightly. He even had his arm around my waist—he was really getting into it.

“Well, well, Iris. I really have been missing you. Have you gotten even prettier? Say, Rage, what do you think?”
“……Hweh!? Ah, uhh, well, how should I put it……”

Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t have a pretentious conversation like this.
As Rage stammered, suddenly forced into this situation, I tilted my head slightly—rubbing salt in the wound—and stared intently into his eyes, waiting for him to continue.

Rage shifted his gaze nervously for a moment, letting out grunts like “Ah…” and “Ugh…” before finally…

“Aaaargh! Stop it, you guys! You’re acting so damn natural that I seriously don’t know how to react!!”

Seeing Rage finally snap, the two of us couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

.

“So, what’s your level now, 『Onii-chan』?”

Sol brought that question up.
The manner of speech sounded incredibly out of place coming from someone with such a princely appearance, but inside, he was my little sister, Ayame.

“Mm, I hit the level cap. I don’t have any time left today, so I guess the Reincarnation Event will have to wait until tomorrow.”

Though my tone was casual, considering all the people around us, I tried to keep my manners refined as I sipped my tea.
I’d dare say that this game’s biggest strength is how convenient it is—just select an item from the menu and tap “Pay,” and the cost is deducted from your in-game funds, with the item appearing right in front of you instantly, no waiting required.
The taste and aroma recreated in my brain by the taste engine were indistinguishable from the real thing, so I savored the fragrance and slight bitterness on my tongue before swallowing.
Incidentally, since we’d switched to party chat, our voices weren’t reaching those around us. To them, it must just look like we were getting along, enjoying tea and chatting.

“…Still, man, I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around to help you level up.”

Rage said this apologetically. Even though we’d already gone over this countless times half a year ago and reached a conclusion, it seemed he still couldn’t quite let it go.

“I’ve told you this many times—let’s call it even. It can’t be helped—the competition was fierce, right?”

Sol plays a Knight-class, the star of the Tank Job line. Rage plays a Swordsman-class, a Job that consistently ranks among the top one or two in player population across all Jobs. Sol is something of a natural genius, and he’d secured a Unique Job quite easily. Meanwhile, Rage only managed to secure his Unique Job by the skin of his teeth. It’s not hard to imagine that with a hindrance like me tagging along, it would have been practically impossible.

“Yeah. In fact, I probably would’ve failed if Sol hadn’t been there. He was the one who found most of those empty, prime hunting spots, and without him, there’s no way we could’ve pulled off such intense duo hunting—no way.”

My friend looked utterly drained as he recalled the breakneck pace of those days.

I remembered how thin he had looked and how deep the dark circles under his eyes had been. During winter break, when he’d stay over at our house and we were both completely absorbed in leveling up, I’d often find him buried under a mountain of energy drink cans, looking pale as a ghost. I was genuinely worried he might die.

“Heh heh, be grateful, will you?”
“Ah, yeah, yeah, I’m grateful, I am.”

Facing Sol’s s̲h̲i̲t̲-eating grin, Rage sulkily downed the contents of his cup in one rough gulp. Seeing them so carefree, I couldn’t help but let a smile spread across my face.

Ever since I turned down their invitation and started playing solo, whenever we met up in the game, an awkward atmosphere would linger, making things feel a bit strained. I’d told them time and again not to worry about it, but it seemed they just couldn’t shake the guilt of leaving me behind.

Now that I’d finally caught up with them, that tension had eased, and I was overjoyed that our relationship had returned to the way it used to be. Feeling my face relax involuntarily, I took another sip of tea and let myself feel all warm and cozy.

.

“But, man… You’ve really started acting more girly over here. …Like when you laughed just now, you put your finger to your lips. Did you do that unconsciously?”

Hearing my friend suddenly point that out, I realized he was right.

“Ah, yeah. After seven years of this, it just comes so naturally I can do it on the spot…”
“Obviously! There’s no way I’d ever allow my masterpiece to make any rough, manly gestures.”

That’s right. The avatars we use, the 3D models, were created by this little sister of mine.
As her older brother, I was extremely worried watching my kid sister, who must have been thirteen at the time, staring at the design software with a fierce expression as if possessed, all while clutching a thick technical book.
And the fact that she would occasionally stare off into the distance and let out a suspicious chuckle made me even more worried.

As for the textures, during the three months my sister spent creating the characters, the two of us debated endlessly, made countless fine adjustments, layered them over and over, and corrected any issues that caught our eye… repeating this process a mind-boggling number of times until I finally drew them from scratch.

The resulting “Iris” that I’m using now is, according to my sister, “the ideal girl you want to love with all your heart.”
And the “Sol” that my sister is using was created by her, incorporating my suggestions while also adding her own personal touches.
It was kind of funny to see the dumbfounded look on our friend’s face when we first unveiled them.

……Normally, I would have been using Sol and my sister would have been using Iris, but the only way to explain why we ended up swapping them is that “we made the wrong initial Job choices.”

Neither of us was at all suited for the Jobs we had respectively chosen, but since you can’t change your initial Job selection afterward—and deleting our characters would have meant the fruits of our three months of effort vanishing into the digital abyss—we had no choice but to swap.

Yes, we had no other option. My sister was all for it, but I was reluctant. I was very, very unhappy about it. That’s the one thing I want to shout from the rooftops.

By the way, my behavior in the game is all thanks to my sister’s guidance.

We lost our parents at a young age due to a certain incident in the past and were taken in by our grandparents, who were fairly well-known wealthy figures in our hometown.

My sister had been raised by our strict grandparents, who placed great importance on manners, from around the age of five, and the acting lessons I later received from her—on how to pretend to be a woman—were extremely Spartan. Especially in VR, where even the slightest gesture could give away your true gender, she provided almost constant acting coaching during the early stages.

……People around us would say how heartwarming it was to see us getting along so well, but in reality, if I made even the slightest odd remark or gesture, I’d be punished out of sight of others.
Among other things, there was a time when my sister—who had snapped after a string of failures—cornered me in a private room where no one else could enter and said, “Why don’t we practice how a girl would react if she were touched in a slightly inappropriate place?” I don’t remember what happened after that, though.

.

“…By the way, Rage, how long do you plan to keep petting my head? I’d rather you stop messing up my hair.”

Yep, ever since I sat down, my head has been nothing but a resting place for Rage’s hand.

“Oops, sorry. It’s just at the perfect height and feels so nice, so I couldn’t help myself.”

I glared at Rage—who, even as he said that, was shaking my head even harder—and grunted.

……It’s kind of weird that I’m doing this naturally—puffing out my cheeks like I’m sulking and glaring up at him from below.
Could it be that my little sister has brainwashed me? I’m starting to get a little worried.

Just as I was thinking such a silly thought, a chill ran down my spine.
Rage seemed to feel it too; with a movement that sounded like a creaking door hinge, he turned his face toward Sol.

Sol took a sip of tea and smiled at us, but… oh, her eyes aren’t smiling.
Her eyes spoke volumes, insisting, “That head belongs to me, don’t you dare touch it.”
Rage was nodding frantically while dripping with cold sweat, gently pulling his hand away from my head, so I must have been right.

“R-right. I wanted to ask what I’ll have to do during the Reincarnation Event.”

This piercing atmosphere is bad for my health. Let’s just change the subject… that’s when I remembered something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while. If there was going to be any kind of battle, I needed to figure out a strategy beforehand.

“Hmm…you won’t have to do anything special, you know? There’s just a weird book sitting all alone in a strange, pure-white room, and when you open it, it asks something like, ‘Do you want power?’ Once you choose a Job, everything goes white for a split second, and that’s it… Oh, and since your level drops, you won’t be able to wear your current gear anymore, so make sure to bring low-level armor and cold-weather gear—otherwise, you’ll die from cold damage when you go outside… Hey, Sol, what’s up?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

Sol, who had gone silent the moment the conversation turned to the event—with that earlier intimidating aura fading—took another sip of tea to moisten her tongue before speaking.

“…I actually heard a strange story about that. It’s from a friend at school. She’s been complaining for a while that her younger brother is completely obsessed with this game and isn’t studying…”

For a girl who usually speaks her mind so bluntly, she sounded hesitant. When the two of us remained silent, urging her to continue, she finally gave in and began to speak.

“Apparently, she said that after the reincarnation event ended, his grades suddenly shot up. He even jumped straight to the top of his class. And this was a kid who’d been glued to the game the whole time and whose grades had always hovered near the bottom, you know?”
“…Couldn’t that just be a coincidence? Maybe he finally felt like he could focus on his studies now that things had settled down?”

I offered what I thought was the most likely explanation. Now that almost all the Unique Jobs have been taken—with a few exceptions—there’s no particular reason to rush after becoming a reincarnated Job. So it wouldn’t be surprising if he came to his senses and tried to make up for lost time.

“I guess that’s probably true… but something just doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Well, what about you? Have your grades gone up or anything?”
“Nope. Same as always.”

She brushed off Rage’s question with a sharp retort.

“It’s business as usual—no problems at all. Sol has been in the top ranks ever since middle school.”

I have no idea when she finds time to study, but my little sister has never once had her grades drop. That saying, “God doesn’t give with both hands,” is definitely a lie.

“Ah, yeah, yeah, that’s right, you are Miss Perfect Score. My bad for asking a genius like you.”
“So, what about you, Rage? Has anything out of the ordinary happened?”

“No way,” was the immediate answer that I’d expected from him. And yet…

“…………”

Contrary to my expectations, Rage covered his mouth with his hand and fell deep in thought, as if pondering something.

“……Huh? Did something actually happen?”
“Ah, well, um… you know, I practice kendo at home, right?”

Rage’s house is a kendo dojo. Because of that, he’s been swinging a bamboo sword since he was little, and although he doesn’t compete in official matches, he’s quite skilled.

In VRMMOs, real-world experience carries immense weight. Between a complete novice and someone with experience in sword combat, the latter is naturally far stronger even with the same stats—and with that experience, Rage starts the game with a significant advantage.

“Ah, you were always getting beaten up by your scary grandpa and crying your eyes out, weren’t you?”
“And running away from home to come stay with us was also a regular thing, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, I beat him.”
““Huh!?””
“W-wait a minute—Rage, your grandpa is that incredibly strong guy who even trains the police, right!?”
“Eh!? Didn’t you just get beaten black and blue by him last year, Reiji-san?!””
“Yeah, yeah, I did…wait, he didn’t beat me that bad! Anyway, his sword strokes just looked so slow, so I thought, ‘I can do this…!’ and charged in, and then—bam.”

Saying that, Rage demonstrated a sweeping strike to the torso.

“…Maybe you’ve been swinging a sword so much in the game that you got stronger without even realizing it…?”

After all, when you’re near the level cap, you’re up against opponents with superhuman reflexes—it’s possible that combat experience piled up without you realizing it, and your talent just blossomed… something like that might have happened.

“I guess… that could be it…”

Seeing Rage tilt his head with a look of unease, we all felt a vague sense of discomfort.

.

“Whoops, my bad! I shouldn’t have said that to you before your Reincarnation Event. What are you going to do tomorrow until you can log in again?”
“Ah, um. They’ve asked me to drop by for a meeting about the next scheduled event, so I’ll have to come visit them. I also want to ask about revisions to the recently submitted illustration. So I think I won’t log in until sometime in the evening or later.”
“I’ll tag along, then. Well, it’ll count as a future workplace visit, too.”

Right after my grandparents passed away, I decided to turn my hobby of drawing into a career so I could support myself. I’d been dabbling as an illustrator on a small scale, and thanks to that connection, I’ve been getting occasional commissions for concept art. My younger sister, even though she still has two years left in college, has already secured a job offer from the company that develops and operates this game. So she’s been visiting quite often and seems to have started learning about the job.

“I see. Well, I don’t have any classes tomorrow either, so maybe I’ll tag along. Even if I can’t go inside, I can at least push your wheelchair.”

It’s true—Rage has plenty of stamina, and having him come along would be a huge comfort.

“That’d be great, but… are you sure?”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
“Well then, maybe I’ll ask you to carry my bags on the way home, too.”
“…Y-yeah, sure, leave it to me.”

Ah, she’s clearly planning to stock up on heavy stuff while she’s at it. Rage’s face twitched a bit at that. My condolences.
As we were talking, an alarm went off in my head, warning me that I had five minutes left before being forcibly logged out.

“Oh, looks like it’s time… Well then, Reiji, see you tomorrow.”
“I’m logging off too. Good night, Reiji-san.”
“Yeah, Yanagi, Ayame-chan. See you tomorrow. …I’m really looking forward to playing in a party with you guys again.”

The three of us lightly bumped fists, logged out one by one, and returned to the real world.

***

Yanagi (Willow) → Sol
Ayame → Ayame (Iris flower) → Iris

Since they swapped after creating their characters, they’re each using the other’s name.
Reiji is using his real name.

From the protagonist’s perspective, they had to swap characters because they had no other choice, but from Ayame’s perspective;

“According to Keikaku (grin)”

is how it goes.