Chapter 4

When I realized it, I was in front of a square with a fountain.

The streets lined with medieval-like buildings and clouds drifting in the sky. Pigeons roamed around the square, and various races walked in front of me. Carriages ran on the cobblestone streets, and the bustling voices from the market stalls lining the square could be heard.

Is this the demon world, "Demon's World"?

"Quite a normal world... I didn't expect it to be this way..."

I was a bit worried about the "demon world." I thought it would be something scary, like houses made of skeletons, a sky dyed red, or a world of constant screams and violence. I'm really glad it's not like that.

Well, I had gathered some information from TV, but if it were that kind of world, I probably wouldn't have played this game even if Rensia had invited me. I'm not sure if Rensia would have played it either. It would have been a very niche game that wouldn't have been popular with kids and women.

"But it really is just like the real thing..."

I approached the fountain, reached out, and touched the water that was spouting. It was cold, and I could feel the wetness. Amazing.

Indeed, it's a world that deserves to be called the latest VR technology.

Now that I'm in this world, I should check my information first.

"Um, 'Status'..."

A semi-transparent status window appeared in front of me. Normally, only the frame is visible to others, so there's no need to worry about others seeing your skills or items. Of course, you can allow them to view it if you wish.

The window displayed my parameters, equipment, acquired skills, and items. I see, this is how you check it.

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■STR【Strength】 (Physical Strength)

Affects physical attack power.

■VIT【Vitality】 (Endurance)

Affects physical defense power.

■INT【Intelligence】 (Intellect)

Affects magical attack power.

■MND【Mind】 (Mental Strength)

Affects magical defense power, healing magic power, etc.

■AGI【Agility】 (Agility)

Affects speed and physical attack evasion rate.

■DEX【Dexterity】 (Dexterity)

Affects accuracy and production success rate.

■LUK【Luck】 (Luck)

Affects all probabilities, mainly critical hits and item drop rates.

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In my case, the numbers were perfectly even. Well, that's a characteristic of the "Demon Race."

Hmm? What's this "Wings of Seire" in the reserve skills section? I'm sure it said "None" during character creation...

Ping.

Suddenly, an electronic sound rang out. I looked around, but no one seemed to be reacting. Huh?

Ping.

Again. Looking closely, I noticed that the "Mail" frame at the edge of my status window was blinking and showing ②.

When I touched the "Mail," a new window opened, and I saw that I had two messages. The sound I heard earlier must have been the notification.

One was a welcome message from the operators: "Welcome to Demon's World Online!" I'll read this later, so I skipped it.

The other was from Rensia. I opened the email titled "It's Rensia."

"I'm on my way. Please wait."

I was surprised by the brief content but was certain it was Rensia. She can't write Japanese, especially kanji, very well, and her emails always look like this. Especially when she's in a hurry.

Probably because she's not confident with kanji conversion, she uses hiragana. For example, she might not know if "待ってて" (wait for me) or "舞ってて" (dancing) is correct. She's been living in Japan since spring, so I think she'll be able to write properly eventually.

Hmm? But doesn't this game have a translation function? Well, she was probably in a hurry and forgot.

I sat on the edge of the fountain and watched the pigeons. Then, I saw two girls running towards me from the other side of the town.

One had silver hair tied in twin tails with black ribbons, wearing a black jacket and skirt with a butterfly-wing-like sheen, and black tights.

The other was a red-haired woman with a shield, wearing leather light armor and long horns protruding from her head. Is she a "Dragon Race"?

"Ah, um, are you Mr. White Rabbit?"

A small, silver-haired twin-tailed girl with a red face called out to me, sitting on the edge of the fountain. Ah, she does look like Rensia. She has fangs, though. Before I could answer, a tall woman standing next to her spoke up.

"Miss, it's against the rules to use real names in the game."

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

"In the game, I'm 'Shiro.' Long time no see, Rensia... Oops, real names are not allowed."

"Ah, name display is off, so you don't know. I'm 'Ren.'"

Ren, formerly Rensia, smiled. Her golden hair had turned silver, and her blue eyes had turned emerald. Her race is... a vampire, maybe?

It seems the voice translation function is on.

"Still, how did you manage to send an email? I didn't know what avatar name I would use."

I voiced my confusion. I thought you couldn't send emails without knowing the avatar name. The demo girl in the tutorial said something like that.

"Before logging in, you probably entered your mobile address and address in the VR drive. Using that address, it's possible to send emails directly to DWO avatars. This allows you to find real-life friends. Actually, to make sure you knew when you logged in, I had the headquarters register your number to my avatar. The young lady really wanted to play the game with you..."

"Aah! Fuka-san, shh!"

"Miss, using real names is against the rules. Please call me Wendy."

"Ah, you're right. Sorry!"

Ren, blushing and putting her finger to her lips, and the calm dragon woman, Wendy.

Fuka, huh? If it's wind, it should be "Windy," but maybe it's a play on words. Or maybe her last name is Kato?

Anyway, the mystery of the email is solved. Ren must have sent the email when she knew I logged in. Indeed, Ren's name is already on my "Community" list. She must have registered before I did... huh?

"Wait, what? You asked the headquarters? Is that even possible?"

"Well, um, yes. It's my father's company..."

"Ha... Really? Huh!?"

Your father's company! What, what does that mean!?

"Oh, you didn't know? The company that develops, sells, and operates DWO, Rensfield Corporation, is one of the companies owned by Miss Ren's father."

The expressionless dragon woman, Wendy, said. Seriously? Is that true...? Now I remember, Rensia's real name is Rensia Rensfield... Ah, Rensfield is from there.

"I didn't mean to hide it..."

"Well, I knew you were a young lady... Ha... So, that man is the president... I remember meeting a gray-haired foreigner at the police station during that incident. That's why the VR drive and DWO were the gifts. I see."

"Anyway, it's fine. I wanted to play this game with Rensia... Ren. It would be a waste to play alone."

This is a VRMMO, after all. It's a waste to play alone. Multiplayer games are meant to interact with many people.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with playing solo. That's just a different playstyle. I sometimes play solo too.

"Then, shall we form a party? Just the three of us, Shiro and Wendy."

"Sure, if Wendy is okay with it."

I glanced at the dragon woman.

"By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Wendy. I work as a maid for the young lady. In DWO, I'm her guardian."

I see. That makes sense. I remember this game has various restrictions based on age. You can drink and smoke in DWO, so there are age restrictions.

That's why I can't drink or smoke in DWO. Conversely, anyone who drinks or smokes here is definitely over twenty.

Since it's not actually ingested, it seems a bit strict, but maybe various groups are complaining. Like how some groups complain about too many smoking scenes in anime movies.

I think there are also filters for certain monster depictions for those under thirteen. Realistic zombies would be too intense.

But, a real-life maid... Impressive, rich people, huh...

"Then, I'll send a party request."

I accepted Ren's party request and joined their party. I also registered as friends with Wendy so we could talk even when we were apart.

"I'm just starting, so I'm level 1. What about you two?"

"I'm level 7, and the young lady is level 6. We just started recently. The young lady didn't want to be too strong compared to you..."

"Hey! Wendy, you're saying too much!"

Ren poked Wendy's leather armor.

I see. Level 7 and 6. I should catch up quickly in the early stages.

"Shiro is a 'Demon Race,' right? You're using a dagger... Are you a dodging front-liner?"

"Yeah, something like that. Wendy, you're using a shield and..."

"A sword."

She lightly tapped the sword hanging from her waist. So, she's a defensive front-liner.

"My weapon is a bow. Wendy will defend against monsters, and I'll shoot from the back."

Dragon women have high defense, so they're perfect as a wall. And a vampire archer? That's a unique image, but it could work.

"Shall we go hunting outside the city? The young lady has a tea party in the afternoon, so we have limited time."

"Ah, really?"

"Yes... It's a shame..."

Ren looked down, really disappointed. Even on a Sunday, being a young lady is tough... I patted her head and led her out of the city.

"Then, we shouldn't waste time. I'm a beginner, so please teach me a lot. I think I did well in the tutorial, but actual combat is different."

"Ah, yes! Let's go!"

And so, our party of three—dagger user, shield user, and archer—set off outside the city.

【DWO Brief Explanation】

HP (Hit Points)

Points representing vitality. When this reaches 0, you die and respawn at a designated location.

ST (Stamina)

Points required to activate skills and combat techniques. When this reaches 0, you receive negative modifiers on your actions and it becomes difficult to move. It's also used for production.

MP (Magic Points)

Points required to cast spells and some skills and combat techniques. When this reaches 0, you lose consciousness. You don't die, but it's very dangerous if it runs out during combat. You can recover naturally, through magic, or with items. If you recover even 1 point, you regain consciousness (dazed). At level 1, it takes about a minute to recover 1 point. Some items can also consume MP.