Episode 1 – Off-line meeting

“How about we have an offline meeting just the two of us sometime?”

Amamiya Takaaki had a difficult look on his face in front of the game’s chat screen projected on his desktop.

He had received an invitation to an off-line meeting from a friend.

If it were someone he had just gotten to know, he would have declined the invitation, but he has known this friend, “Dragonhead,” for three years now.

He met his friend at the first guild he belonged to when the PC version of the fantasy RPG “Arcadia Fantasy” that he’s currently playing was just released, and they took on difficult quests together and chatted all night. As he continued to do so, he realized that they had became partners.

They had never talked much about their real lives, but he never expected that Dragonhead would invite him to an offline meeting.

“O-Offline meet. T-That’s okay”

“Rein-san, are you shaking and not typing on the keyboard?”

Amamiya’s avatar name is 《Rein》, and in contrast to the heavy, heavy-armed Dragonhead, he is a lightly-armed wizard.

It would be embarrassing if someone noticed that he was shaken, so Amamiya carefully typed the chat while suppressing his trembling hands.

“ut what kind of a breeze is it that you suddenly want to hold an offline meeting? I thought you didn’t like that kind of thing, Dragonhead san.”

“We’ve known each other for a long time, and I thought I’d like to meet you once.”

Amamiya was even more puzzled.

These days, it’s not unusual to meet up with game friends in real life.

We have entered an era where you can easily play high-quality games on your smartphone. The concept of games is now permeating the general public, who had no connection with these things. It’s common for people to interact with people they met in games in real life, such as video chatting with friends they met in MMORPGs, broadcasting their faces, and even getting married.

“Did you not like it, Rein san….?”

For Amamiya, he did not dislike it because he and Dragonhead get along better than real-life friends and talk about the same things (mainly game topics).

However, Amamiya Takaaki is a genuine communicator.

(What if I meet offline with Dragonhead and he becomes demoralized by my personality ……!)

Rein in the game and Amamiya in real life are so divergent in their speaking style and personalities.

He can’t casually say “Good morning!” and he can’t be cool with “Leave it to me, Dragon Head-san, to recover! I’m enough for this guy on my own!”

Amamiya is just a small 17-year-old high school sophomore.

He never wants yesterday’s friend to become today’s stranger.

He wants to conquer more quests with Dragonhead, and he wants them to be partners.

So the answer Amamiya chose was.

“Ok, let’s have an offline meeting! I’m a student, so the only time I’m free is on weekends.
When are you free, Dragonhead san?”

I’ve done it, I’ve done it.

Cursing his own character that he couldn’t say no to someone’s request, Amamiya waited for Dragon Head san’s reply with tears in his eyes.

“Yay! I’m free on Saturdays and Sundays too, so how about …… this Sunday?”

“Okay, the place.. W-W-where do you want to do it?”

“The chat is getting weird lol Well then, I’m from Hakusei City 〇〇 Prefecture…”

Amamiya was surprised to hear a small voice.

Because it is the town where he lives.

“I live in Hakusei City, too! That’s close!”

“Eh!? Is this for real? That’s too much of a coincidence! Then, do you know Kouba-gai?”

“It’s a 20-minute walk from here. Do you want to meet there?”

“I’ll meet you there! Then, the store is …….”

Amamiya was stunned by this coincidence.

He wondered if Dragonhead actually had his address and was planning to kidnap him, a student, as he suspected was possible.

However, from her chat, it seemed as though he was pleased from the bottom of her heart, so he couldn’t call it off now.

“How about a coffee shop? It’s a cafe called [Vidra].”

“Vidra? That Vidra?!”

It’s the kind of stylish coffee shop that women or young couples go to!

Amamiya wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and stared at the name of the restaurant on his desktop with a look of disbelief on his face.

“Isn’t that too challenging, ……?”

“I like it there! The strawberry shortcake there is so popular that it was introduced on a famous TV program.
If you don’t try it at least once, you’re missing out on life!”

“Ah, ……, is that so?”

You’re just after the cake, womanly.

In that case, Amamiya thought to himself, “Why don’t you just go eat alone?”, but if Dragon Head asked him to, he had no choice but to accompany him.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to go down now. I’ll log in tomorrow at the same time, so we’ll talk about the rest then.”

“Okay! I have an early morning so I’m going to bed!”

Dragonhead has logged out.

Before Amemiya could off, a report of Dragonhead’s logout appeared in the chat box.

Although they are not competing, Dragonhead always logs out earlier than Amamiya.

Since this is a regular occurrence, Amamiya also logs out and turns off his PC without thinking anything in particular.

The room goes dark as the faint light on the desktop disappears.

Since the window shutters are closed, Amamiya does not know if the sun is rising or what time it is, but it is too much trouble to check, so he dives into bed as it is.

I can’t resist sleepiness, let’s go to bed.

“Takaaki! It’s already morning! Why are you still sleeping!”

A voice was heard from outside the room, and Takaaki snapped his eyes open and looked up at the ceiling.

Someone who had just disturbed his sleep, who was just about to fall asleep, had opened the door without hesitation and invaded his room.

“Chika ……?”

“You stayed up all night playing games again last evening! I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that it has to be done in moderation! I have to wake you up every morning!”

The one who entered the room was Tojo Chika.

She has a slender, model-like figure and long, lustrous black hair. She is dressed in a school uniform that has a mature yet comfortable feel to it. She is a childhood friend of Amamiya’s who is popular among both boys and girls alike at her high school.

“Is it morning already? I thought it was still midnight.”

“Of course not! you were so absorbed in the game that you lost all sense of time! I don’t understand what you’re having so much fun with.
You should spend that kind of time on something more productive.”

She’s a high school student of the same age, but she’s like a mother.

Unable to talk back because she was completely right, Amamiya decided to be honest and thank her.

“Thank you, always. It’s thanks to Chika that I can get up early in the morning like this.”

“Hmph!! I don’t know what you’re talking about when you’ve been up all night,……, just wash your face and get downstairs as soon as possible.”

Tojo’s role was to wake up Amamiya every morning so that he would not be late for class, as he was always up late or staying up all night.

The two could not remember why this happened, but since it had become a normal routine since elementary school, they did not think about it deeply.

“”Thank you for the meal.”””

The dining table was surrounded by Amamiya, her younger sister Anna, and Tojo.

Amamiya’s parents are currently abroad on a business trip, so he lives with his younger sister, albeit temporarily.

Tojo, on the other hand, had received permission from her parents to join them at the dinner table.

It must be lonely for just the two of you, right? That’s the reason.

“Hehe, Chika oneechan. Did you like the omelet I made? I put a lot of sugar in them to make them sweeter.”

Anna, the younger sister in her middle school uniform, came to Tojo with a twinkle in her eye.

Today’s breakfast was made by Anna.

“Yes, of course it was delicious. You used sugar and it didn’t burn, so I’d say you’re an expert. Keep up the good work.”

Tojo evaluates Anna’s cooking from the top.

It’s true, she is the one who taught Anna how to cook.

“Yay! I got a high rating from Chika onee chan!”

Anna was jumping up and down, expressing her happiness with her whole body.

Amamiya smiled bitterly, saying that it was not surprising since she had been criticized when she first started out.

“Then it’s time to go. Anna-chan, you’re going to be late for school, so hurry up and get ready.”

Tojo spoke like a mother again, but both Amamiya and Anna responded with a childlike “yes.”

Amamiya really like Tojo, who was very popular in the high school, sometimes strict but caring and kind.

He was in love with her.

After school, Amamiya went home right away, started up his PC, and logged into the game.

Dragonhead had logged in first.

He is still a fast logout-in guy.

Amamiya decided to ask him for advice on love.

“There’s someone I like, and I’m thinking of confessing to him. ……”

‘Wwwwwwwwe sssseriously, so, so?”

Are you shaking and typing on the keyboard?

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