1 Chapter 1: Just Friends, Right?

It was winter.

A few days after Christmas when a boy sat on the cliff of a mighty mountain.

He gazed at the beautiful sunset which slowly melted the glaciers on the mountain's summit.

After every long day of class and riveting part-time jobs, he came here to this mountain top to gaze at the falling sunset.

It was simply out of pure boredom.

Sometimes he'd even grab a few rocks and throw them, only to stare them down until they reach the foot of the mountain.

Normally, one would reminisce about past events in their life in such a boring situation.

But in here, the first thing that occurred was a dragon waking up inside of the cave to his rear. It spotted him sitting there; fully armored to the MAX with his longsword resting on his shoulders.

He sighed as he glanced at the monstrosity with boredom filling the monotonous expression written on his face.

"So you respawned again. Time for attempt 23 to obtain that Legendary gear."

He got up and charged directly at the dragon. Its first reaction was as he knew from experience: 'Flame Breath'.

He utilized his massive longsword—which he'd obtained from 9000+ hours of blood, sweat, and tears spent on this game—to shield himself from the roaring dragon's flames.

The monster was massive.

It was plastered in hunter green scales; had two horns on its head, and a crown made from what appeared to be solid magma.

As the boy drew closer, the dragon got desperate and used his right claw to fling the boy in armor away.

But since this was the 23rd time he fought this monstrous dragon, he foresaw the attack and slashed its entire leg in half.

This is my chance!

He used the momentum from the previous slash to throw his longsword over the dragon's enormous head and cast a spell.

"Zero Gravity! Weapon Mode!"

The sword came to a halt in the air and dropped right through the dragon's brains.

It dropped dead on the sword when it landed lifelessly on the ground.

The boy walked up to the corpse of the dragon to retrieve his sword. The dragon's corpse was resting on it, so he back-hand slapped the lifeless dragon's head away.

The corpse flew across the cave, making way to the bloody sword that still had a piece of brain attached to the tip.

How the sword maintained its mighty position was a mystery.

A bar popped up, floating above the previous location of the dragon's corpse.

[Congratulations! You have defeated Dragon King!

Loot: 1 x Dragon King Paw

2 x Dragon King Scabs

2 x Dragon King Horn]

'So no equipment again?! Fuck this game!'

Just as the virtual game started to get annoying again, the boy's smartphone vibrated in his pocket. He took off his VRDiver, grabbed his phone, and looked at the notification from 'Simon'.

[Hiya Horu! We're having a mixer tonight with a few ladies. And I'll chaperone you with me, so be dressed at 9 p.m. and I'll come to pick you up!]

'Ugh, I'm not even in the mood for a mixer. Wait, it IS 9 p.m. as we speak. That means—!'

The doorbell rang, interfering with the boy's thoughts.

Horu hurried to the door and peeked through its monitor. It was his classmate and close, childhood friend, Simon.

He opened the door, causing Simon to casually barge in as if he owned the place.

"Wassup Horu!"

"Hi...?"

"We...are going to meet up with some girls alongside Chris at a local café. There is also a little surprise waiting for you there."

'A surprise? Why would anyone go out of their way to get me anything?'

"Wait in the living room. I'll get dressed real quick."

Horu directed Simon to the living room which was quite visible from the hallway since the doorway to the living room was significantly wide. It was on the left side of the hall.

Simon looked around—like he always did—and launched himself onto the sofa.

"Yo! Where is your VRDiver?"

"It's upstairs, but we ain't got time for that."

Horu said as he rushed upstairs and got dressed. After speed-searching through a couple of outfits, he decided to randomly pick one.

~~~~~

After a brief ride to the local café, Horu hopped out of Simon's car. Through the large windows of the café, he saw 3 young women and Chris sitting on a table at the far side of the venue.

The woman on the left had long, silver hair with red highlights and a slick face. The lady sitting in the middle had blond, short hair with sharp bangs and looked like an athlete by the way she was built.

Horu's other classmate, who happened to be the school idol, had also joined the mixer and sat at the edge of the table. Kaede Umazugawa.

When they entered the café, the waiter behind a bar to the left side of the venue greeted them.

"Welcome to Villéa Café, how may I help you?"

"Hi, we already have a table. But please... two soda's."

They walked to the table on the far side of the café. The girl sitting on the edge noticed their approach and smiled.

"Hey, Hòru. Finally, have the will to join a night out?"

The girl chuckled as she leaned forward, chewing on the plastic straw between her teeth. She narrowed her malicious eyes down on Horu.

"...Simon dragged me here."

Horu replied with his shoulders slumped, making it clear he was not in the mood to be in their presence.

It was then.

He noticed a pair of eyes peering at him from next to the woman that chewed on a straw. Even though the latter was beautiful and emitted a mature demeanor, her beauty couldn't compare to that of the former.

Her hair was long, brown-colored, and comprised sharp bangs just like the seducing woman sitting at her side.

Her eyes were as blue as the first ocean on Earth but sharp like a knife. She sported round glasses and a white, one-piece dress.

Kaede Umazugawa, the star of Villéa University.

Known for her astounding beauty, top-tier grades, and her famous family name.

It was said that her father owned the worldwide best-selling smartphone brand, 'Giophone'.

Horu wondered what she was doing there at that mixer because he'd never seen her at an event without her friends.

She also happened to be in the same class as him for years and held conversations with him all the time.

One could call them 'childhood friends'.

"I'm jealous."

"What... why?"

Horu gave Simon a confused look as he whispered those words. He caught him nodding toward the male restroom.

"There is something I need to tell you."

The sluggishly dressed, blond-haired teenager headed toward the male restroom. Horu followed a minute after and opened the restroom door to Simon leaning on one of the sinks as if he'd been waiting for hours.

"Haven't you wondered why Kaede, our school star, the sole girl who would never, has joined our little event?"

He looked disappointed.

"I can't tell. Do you know why?"

"Isn't it obvious? The chick likes you."

"..."

"She likes you so much, that she'd been asking me for months to hook you two up."

His expression startled Horu. He began and ended his sentence with a sigh.

He spoke the truth. But what should I do with this information?

"What should I do?"

Horu's question sounded dense to Simon, who had to endure guiding his fresh love life.

"Ask her out, idiot. The night is still young. You two should go and have some fun."

He said with the same disappointed expression on his face again.

"Sure, but what if she doesn't like me?"

"...She does. Damn, you are dense. After all these years and you still didn't get the slightest hint? Everyone in Villéa knows that Kaede Umazugawa, the hottest being in the world, no, the universe, fell in love with some regular loser."

"How should I know that she likes me? I mean... we talk a lot and hang out sometimes but—"

Simon sharply interrupted those words.

"But she's the most popular chick in town? I should punch you in the face right now for being so simple-minded."

"And you mean that I should take her out? Like, right now?"

"Yes, idiot. Now go."

He pushed Horu towards the restroom exit. Horu looked at him and questioned if he was okay with his decision.

"You okay with me going out with her? I mean, she is your—"

Simon pouted, opened the door, and pushed Horu out of the restroom. His thoughts were all over the place as he walked to the table containing the rest of the company.

"It was about some damn time."

"What are you on about...?"

Horu looked at the people sitting there at the table. Their faces all carried the same look—disappointed and about to burst into tears of laughter.

And as expected, they all began laughing...

"This mixer had only one purpose."

"I'm sure that your best friend, who's peeking out of the restroom door, already informed you on why you're here."

Behind them was Simon peeking through the restroom door as informed by Chris. After being noticed, his head slowly faded from their line of sight.

"..."

"You planned this... Why?"

Horu looked at Kaede, whose face was beet red.

'Is she blushing? So it's true? The most popular woman in the school, or perhaps even the city, no, the entire world... likes me?'

Horu averted his eyes to Kaede, whose expression was hidden under her sharp bangs.

Slowly, tears began rolling down her red cheeks as she held her head down.

Her arms were stretched out onto her knees as she folded her wrists to firmly hold her skirt. That white skirt was completely untainted until now.

Teardrops had cut away from her jaws and fallen onto the plain, white but surely expensive dress.

"It can't be true, right? I mean, they must be joking. Right? Haha, c'mon... we're friends, right?"

There went the game-breaker.

Horu knew that her feelings were a complete mess, but he just couldn't believe it.

Her face finally revealed itself and screamed out 'Yes! You dense moron!' sadly, Horu failed to notice. She stood up, whereas the tears didn't land on her dress, but fell to the ground instead.

She ran off with her hands clutched to her face.

"Tch! So much for a romantic ending. Horu, my boy, you just wasted the perfect chance on a perfect day, which you just totally ruined. What a dumbass."

Chris glared at Horu, indicating that he was a walking disappointment.

"Horu."

Simon's voice reached from behind him.

"If you're not gonna take her..."

He grabbed Horu by his shoulder and stared deep into his eyes. Frustration fueled his expression.

"...Then I will."

'You see what I mean? I'm just some loser who can't even figure out the feelings of a girl.'

Simon walked past Horu without batting an eye.

'What the hell did I do? Is it something that I said?'

"Loser."

The few people that were still at the table, ate their last fries and left.

Still standing there, Horu grabbed the bill on the table. After such a quick meal, one would think that the price would be feasible.

Although considering the number of people that ordered a menu, one would die of bankruptcy.

He pinched his eyes just to make sure that what he was seeing was merely an illusion. But those hopes were dashed...

"WHAAATTT?! 6.000 yen?!"

The waiter approached the boy, thinking that he'd gone insane.

"...Sir, is everything okay?"

There was nothing he could do now anyway. Might as well just pay for his 'sins'.

"I'd like to... pay this... in cash, please. By the way, it was delicious."

Horu said with a wryly smile that failed at hiding his despair.

'I didn't even take a bite!'