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“Ohh…”

Kou let out a somewhat idiotic voice as he ran around, noticing how the feeling under his feet felt. He was still wearing his starting clothes, a white one piece dress with gilded embroidery around the neck and waist, which spread out cutely as he walked.

He had already ran through the forest for a while before, but he only noticed now. Or rather, the feeling was so realistic that he did not even consider thinking of it before.

His shoes transmitted the soft feeling of dirt mixed with fallen leaves under his feet in high detail.

And sometimes he also could feel a loose stone, or some tree branch.

The air there was also filled with the distinct scent of fresh leaves with the earthiness of the ground, and even the rustling of leaves sounded convincing, creating a highly realistic soundscape.

“…It really feels like reality.”

That all nailed home just how hard his father and the other developers had worked on everything.

Creating such an immersive experience probably had felt like a mere pipe dream when the first Full-Dive VRMMO released two decades before.

“What’s wrong, young girl?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing!”

He had been so lost in thought that he had started to lag behind.

Hearing that question, he hurried to catch up to his guide, the man he had just rescued from the Grizzly Bear.

The man had reddish brown hair, cut short, and he did not look like he trained his body, but he simply gained muscle from his daily life. He was a middle aged man with a middle built. People in real life would probably say he had a ‘dad bod’.

Since Kou’s character was short, he had to walk really quickly to catch up to the man. After walking alongside him for a bit, Kou felt the man’s rough and bony hand rest on his head.

“But man… you really saved my neck back there. You’re really strong even though you’re still so young.”
“I’m just glad you’re safe. Not to mention that I got lost here, so I actually appreciate having someone who can guide me outside.”

Kou replied while enduring the ticklish feeling of receiving head pats.

He tried to smile as he replied… and he hoped he was smiling. There were no mirrors so he could not tell for sure, so eventually he got too embarrassed and had to avert his gaze.

The character creation process had gone so fast that he had no idea if he looked good, but from the man’s reactions Kou determined he was at least bearable to look at, which was a relief.

They continued talking about idle topics as they walked, even though the man was just an NPC controlled by an AI.

But he still spoke and behaved naturally, making it hard to believe he was just an NPC.

That was made possible by research on the overall structure of human brains, the basis of which was used as a frame for the AI that was then raised with very specific environmental data, simulating a person living in the game world. It was a miracle of modern technology.

Doing that for every single of the thousands of NPCs in a game would have taken too much effort and time though, as the parameters of each would need to be unique.

So a new program was developed to generate any number of random entities within a given environment.

That became one of the essential programs, handling randomly created quests and the NPCs involved with, which was one of the pillars supporting the game.

One of the main developers of that technology to generate AI entities, and the overarching system controlling it, was also Kou’s father, Sora.

Kou was still a student who had only completed his compulsory education, so there were a lot of things he did not comprehend from the stories his father would tell, which often included many technical terms and brand new technologies.

But his father would always sound so proud and talk about his work so much that Kou remembered the rough outlines.

There were obviously limits to how much those NPCs were allowed to think or how far they could travel on their own, but as far as Kou could tell from his conversation with the man, he sounded almost like a living person.

On top of that, those NPCs would show proper pain if hurt, express sadness if someone close to them died, and… if killed, they would actually die.

The game had just barely launched that day, all players starting from zero, but the NPCs all felt like they had been living there for many years already.

That also gave Kou the strange sensation that this is what the five-minute hypothesis must feel like to a theoretical outside observer.

“…Really, I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“What an odd young girl.”

The man seemed puzzled by Kou’s sudden utterance, which sounded strangely bleak.

“We’re almost out of the forest now. So actually… do you have a place to stay the night?”
“No… it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I don’t even know where I am now.”

Usually he could just logout instead of having to spend the night somewhere, but that option was not available to Kou now.

But either way, the game did not have a mature rating, so Kou doubted he would get assaulted in some way, even if his character was a girl now.

Camping outside was always an option, but Kou had been raised in modern times, so he could hardly imagine doing that. At the very least he wanted a bed.

In reality he would much prefer an actual house though.

“I see… Why don’t you stay over at my place then? I used to live together with my younger brother, but he left for the city, so his room is empty and unused now.”
“Are you sure? I’d really appreciate that!”
“Don’t mention it, you saved my life, so this is the least I can do in return.”

In his mind, Kou struck a victorious pose having secured shelter for the night, while also thinking that what goes around, truly comes around too.

“Alright, we’re out now.”

The man said that as he led Kou out of the forest. He saw how the trees ended abruptly, widening his view dramatically.

“Ah..?!”

The moment Kou stepped out and was hit by sunlight, his body hunched over. He felt dizzy and about to fall, so he quickly squatted down to maintain his balance.

“Hey, are you alright?”
“…I’m sorry, it’s so bright out here it burned my eyes a little.”

He tried to keep his head from spinning too much while somehow glossing over it, but that was likely the effect of Weakness to Sunlight (Weak).

As soon as sunlight hit him, he was hit by an uncomfortable dizziness and his skin began to sting like it was being burned slightly.

It was not unbearable, but it definitely was worse than he imagined.

Kou felt like he could really use some overcoat to conceal his entire body, which we wrote down in a mental note of important things to do.

At the same time, he was wholeheartedly relieved that he had skipped on choosing Weakness to Sunlight (Strong),

“I see. I guess we were in that dark forest for a long time.”
“Yeah, I know… ahahah.”

That was enough to convince the man, but Kou still added a fake laugh for good measure, while being relieved there were no more questions about it.

There had been a large war between humans and demons in the past, battling it out to decide who would have control over the continent.

Peace was eventually forged between humans and demons during the emperor’s rule, but Kou did not know how humans thought of demons now, and Noble Red were also classified as demons, so he decided it was best to not reveal his species so openly.

He reminded himself to be careful about that as he gave a short apology and stood back up.

Once Kou raised his face, he saw a vast and uninterrupted scenery.

They were atop a slightly elevated hill.

Ahead the terrain was tilled with fields of produce leading all the way down, giving way to an idyllic city, all in harmony and peace. Further ahead was an enormous lake that could almost be confused with the sea.

“Welcome, young girl. This is where I live, the Foggy Lakeside Town of Nebel!”

While the man said that, a message appeared on Kou’s peripheral view saying [You’ve arrived at a new location: Foggy Lakeside Town of Nebel].