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Full-dive VR technology has become an ubiquitous part of the modern world, being used in various facets of daily life. Thanks to that familiarity, Kou closed his eyes and entered the virtual world as comfortably as if he was falling asleep.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange room, enclosed by a large transparent dome with stars visible far in the distance. This was a new type of virtual world created through the Neural Linkage Device, which did not require any type of sleeping drugs, instead using quantum transmissions to sever one’s consciousness from reality, while allowing the brain signals necessary to preserve the body to pass through.

It was also claimed that the virtual worlds generated that way were far more vivid than those from the last generation of VR gear.

“Welcome to the world of Destiny Unchain Online. Let’s start by creating the avatar you’ll inhabit in-game.”

The beautiful goddess with wings on her back standing in front of him spoke, reeling his attention back from looking at the scenery. She was likely the AI that would guide him through the character creation process.

“Unless you feel any sort of discomfort moving around, we can start the character creation process. May I access your genetic information from your NLD to produce a list of species that match your identity the best?”

A window popped up in front of him, listing the terms of service. After glancing over everything, he pressed the [YES] button.

Many figures wearing fantastical garments appeared all around him when he looked up after that. They were all based on Kou’s appearance, with certain modifications like pointy long ears, horns, or tails…

“So I have to pick a species out of these now..?”

He looked around, seeing more models popping up one after another in front of him…

“Warning, an atypical value was found in your genetic scan data.”

As the character creation AI made that announcement, the entire virtual space began to collapse. Strange glitches appeared in mid-air while the starry sky beyond the dome dimmed and vanished into pure darkness.

All the preset character models in front of him also vanished one after another.

“…Huh? What’s going on?”

Did it bug out?

Issues like that sometimes sprang up in first generation VRMMO’s, which relied on old technology running off electric sources that could provide erratic power. But modern devices like the NLD use photonic accumulation processors, which in theory should never have such issues.

Are they really sure this is ready for release?

Kou began to get worried about that as he saw the last preset character model vanish.

“A Unique Species has been found that matches your genetic data and available choices.”

The goddess’ voice echoed again, and a new figure, but only one, appeared in the empty space in front of Kou. The figure was quite shorter and slimmer than Kou. It had a delicate contour with tender and youthful curves, almost translucent white skin, and milky white hair that reached below the waist.

Emotionless eyes of a vibrant red seemed to look back at Kou, which were surrounded by long eyelashes of the same color as the hair. Overall the figure looked perfectly symmetrical, drawing an aesthetic contour that formed a…

“…Wait, what? It’s a girl?!”

That figure was doubtless that of a girl slightly younger than Kou.

“Or actually, why is she naked?!”

Since the game was rated for all ages, the private parts had no detail whatsoever. But that did not change the fact that the girl was not wearing a single piece of clothing, so Kou who was still a teenager hastily covered his eyes.

His timidness only lasted for a short moment, giving way to curiosity as he separated his fingers to peep at that figure, his cheeks reddening further.

“So she’s an… albino? I think?”

He gulped loudly seeing her clear white skin. Then stepped forward, doing his utmost to not look down, and hesitantly reached out to touch her face. Contrary to his expectations, his hand did not go through her, but he actually felt like human skin obstructed the movement. He was actually allowed to check his avatar more intimately.

Her cheek felt smooth and springy, and it was actually pleasant to squish. He felt like he could never get tired of doing that… and then he felt something else against his fingers.

“Oh that’s… teeth? Though they’re a little…”

As his thumb rubbed against her closed mouth, he felt something was a bit off.

Putting his fingers inside a cute girl’s mouth sent a gelid chill of immorality down his back, but he would not stop, gently parting her rose colored lips, revealing the source of the odd sensation from earlier. A pair of oddly cute small fangs.

“Fangs..?” One mythical creature popped into his mind instantly, vampires.

“…?!” Kou’s mind was instantly filled with a bloodied sight… a memory of regret.

It’s okay, it was just a little bit of blood, so don’t worry, okay?

A young girl smiled weakly while an adult who ran over tried to contain the bleeding. She was doing her best to console Kou, who cried in despair while clinging to her. It all had started as an innocent game. A game inspired by the horror movie they had watched the evening before. But Kou had gotten carried away halfway through, losing to the impulse to bite her neck… his childhood friend’s neck.

He was still a child, so his jaws did not have much force and the wound was not serious. It had been enough to leave a grotesque teeth-shaped scar on her neck, however.

Since then, Kou would gag whenever anything with a taste similar to blood got anywhere near his mouth. But maybe, just maybe… if he had small sharp fangs back then… Fangs specifically formed for that objective and desire, the very ones in front of his eyes…

Then maybe her wound would have been a far cleaner cut, leaving little to no scar behind, and no memory to torment him so much.

“I’m…”

Yes… that was his true identity. A twisted and insane part of his mind was whispering to him, telling him that was the solution to everything.

“I want to… become you.”

The moment those words escaped his lips, everything went dark.

Species: Noble Red selected.
Paired to the registrant [Mitsuki Kou]’s subconscious with consent.
Bio-analysis of the original. . . Complete.
Genetic data corruption successfully patched.
Transmission to [Cradle]. . . Complete.
Beginning reconstruction of the physical body. [Mitsuki Kou]’s consciousness will be transferred to an isolated location in [Destiny Unchain Online] for safety and preservation.

[Cradle] booting up.