Chapter 3

It's 8:00 in the morning. Miu is fidgeting while eating her toast for breakfast.

"Hey, you don't need to be so nervous. It doesn't start until 11:00, right?"

"Yeah, that's why I need an early lunch. We'll be doing it non-stop."

"No way. We'll eat at 12:00 properly. And don't play the game for too long."

Despite my complaints, my sister grumbles. I wanted to say, "You don't help with the meal preparation, cleaning, or laundry during the summer, do you?" But if she gets upset and starts helping, it would just take longer to finish the chores.

"Alright, I'll make a simple fried rice then."

"Yay, thank you, big brother!"

She's such a kid. I mutter. After that, I clean, do the laundry, and make the fried rice. Oh, it's hot tonight, so somen should be fine. Miu can eat quickly too. I think about the menu.

Then it's 11:00. I put on the VR gear and lie down on the bed. The sleep induction starts immediately. It feels like my body is lying down, but my mind is sharp. Then the view expands, and the scenery becomes visible.

"Please enter your name."

Prompted by the mechanical female voice, I tap the semi-transparent keyboard that appears in front of me. Even though I'm not used to VR, I type in my name, [SYUN (Shun)]. Then, the tutorial options appear, but I already have the information from the strategy site. If I need anything, I can ask my sister Sei or Miu.

The scene that opens is crowded with people. It seems many people have logged in. I have just landed in the VR world for the first time, but the sensation feels off. I want to think it's just the usual VR discomfort, but my hair, which is usually short, is now down to my shoulders. This is strange. With my androgynous face, I'll be mistaken for a girl.

No, I've already had a hunch.

While I'm thinking about this, a high-pitched sound is heard.

"Chat, open."

"Ah, big brother, are you connected?"

"Yeah, where are you?"

"Since there are so many people, let's meet in front of the North Cathedral with Onee-chan."

"Got it, I'll be right there."

I move from the spot immediately. I dislike crowds, and for some reason, people around me are looking at me.

When I reach the front of the cathedral, there are a few people waiting.

I look for Miu.

"Hey, big brother, are you here yet?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?"

"Under the statue in front of the cathedral. I have white hair."

I find her. Indeed, her hair is white. Next to her is a person with blue hair wearing a robe, likely a magic user. The woman with slightly droopy eyes and beauty marks under them is a familiar face, though the color scheme is different.

I call out to them.

"Is that Miu?"

"Uh, yes. It's Mew. Who are you?"

"It's me, your brother."

"Huh? Shun? Onee-chan, I haven't seen you in a while, so I didn't recognize you. When did you become a girl?"

"No, Onee-chan, it's not me! This isn't the issue! Why is my big brother a girl!"

"Well, I don't want to think about it, but when I created the character without modifying the photo I took, the body correction might have made it more feminine."

I didn't want to think about it. I don't have breasts, but my body has a general roundness. My voice is slightly husky, and the content I was coerced into, mimicking a woman's voice, is a black history. If that were linked to me, I'd have to hang myself.

"Um, you look cute. Shun, I mean, are you Yun now?"

Huh?

"Because your name is Yun."

"Uh, oh, really. Yun Onee-chan?"

I was supposed to type SYUN, but due to my inexperience with VR, the first S was missing, and the name was set as YUN—Yun.

"Hey, I'm going to delete this character!"

"Come on, this game doesn't allow cross-dressing, so think of it as a good experience, Yun Onee-chan."

"If I delete it with my Onee-chan privileges, I'll expose your black history."

Oh, Sei Onee-chan. No, Sei Onee-chan is serious now. When Sei Onee-chan is serious, the aftermath is scary. She's quite persistent. In another online game, she apparently gave a player who tried to PK her friend a proper lesson.

"Alright, I won't. I won't do any role-playing and will just play casually. So, have you two already obtained your senses?"

"Yeah, when you get the initial senses, you also get the initial weapon."

"Then I'll get my senses too."

I ask the two to wait a moment while I obtain my senses.

"Hey, what kind of senses does Yun Onee-chan have?"

"Um? My setup is Bow, Eagle Eye, Magic Talent, Mana, Alchemy, Augmentation, Training, Synthesis, Compounding, and Production Sense."

Mew's mouth is wide open, and Sei Onee-chan looks troubled.

"Hey, what are you aiming for, Yun?"

"Um, support, maybe?"

"...Big brother, you idiot! You collected all these useless senses!"

Yeah, I knew they were useless. I chose them intentionally for niche reasons. I was about to argue, but—

"Good, the bow has the worst cost-effectiveness! Eagle Eye just lets you see things far away better, but it's not a unique sense! Magic Talent won't grow much without a specific attribute or magic! Alchemy is just a material conversion sense with a poor conversion rate! Augmentation is mediocre, and Training is a sense for taming monsters, but the success rate is low, so it's a dead sense. The only living senses are Synthesis, Compounding, and Production Sense, which are for production roles! I thought we could go on adventures together."

"Um, to put it simply, the bow can't be used without arrows, and Eagle Eye isn't a great sense. Magic Talent can grow a bit with alchemy, but the efficiency is low, right?"

Sei Onee-chan explained it politely.

In other words, I thought I chose support senses to avoid being a burden, but I ended up being a complete burden and not even a proper support.

And the final blow.

"Most items you can make with Synthesis and Compounding are already sold in stores."

Yes, my existence has become meaningless.