5 Chapter 5 *Updated*

Edited by: Mystic

After Ai Yui was finally able to kill all the slimes in the field, his vision flashed as the screen in front of him popped up, stating he'd gotten to level 10. He now had a new attack! Well, it wasn't really an attack. The new skill was 'Scurry'. Which was sort of like the Dodge skill, but a variation that allowed him to quickly flee out of the attack range of his opponent.

Seeing he was done, Wang moved over to scoop him up into his arm, holding him to his chest as he smiled softly. "Good job! Now we can go to the next area to work on a stronger opponent!" he said as if they had all the time in the world.

Ai was pleased with himself, taking in the praises as if normal while snuggling in the others arm. It wasn't sure if he just got used to it, or Wang was good at distracting him from the intimate hold he held on him. But the feeling soon passed as he glanced at the time. It was well past 2 in the morning and he had class in a few hours. "Wait! I gotta go!"

Ai began to struggle again, his body flailing as he tried to jump down. Wang frowned before putting him down "Go where?" he asked as if unwilling to admit the other wanted to log off.

Ai was glad that he was now free, sitting down to look up at the other "I know we aren't supposed to go out of character, but I gotta log off. It's super late and I have class in the morning!" he said, not wanting the other to get upset at him. He wasn't sure how the rule worked when someone had to log out!

Wang sighed as he shook his head. "Things like that don't matter with the rule. As long as it's something that's important and you aren't just spewing facts that ruin the game play it's fine," he said as if talking to a little child.

Ai sighed with relief as he nodded, not getting the tone the other had used. "Okay. Well Bye bye! Thanks for helping me!" he said before logging out of the game. Wang, however, remained in the game, staring at the empty spot. 'To think he fled so fast...hmm this isn't going to work..' With that thought, the redhead also logged out.

---- The real world ---

Ai sat up and took the headgear off before stretching. He felt oddly tired and sore. Was it due to the sensors that allowed him to feel what he felt in the game? Dashi was already asleep, and the room was dark. Setting the headgear onto his nightstand, Ai went to wash up before getting into bed for the few remaining hours he had left to sleep.

The following day he was dead tired as he went through the motion of classes. Between his school work and studying, he was only able to get on the game a few other times. Each time he was on, Wang was always grey, meaning he wasn't online. So he continued to explore and soon found other monsters to fight. Sadly without Wang, he died more times then he could count but he managed to make it to level 25 by the time week was up.

Pleased with himself he logged out of the game before getting his rest for the night. The following morning he finished his assignments for the weekend before heading to Saoi's room to clean and cook.

After spending a week so far coming to cook and clean for Saoi, Ai had grown accustomed to the males odd tendencies. If Saoi was there, they would chat idly about some things, usually what their own respective hobbies were. Or they would go over some things about classes. Saoi had been more than surprised to find that Ai wasn't like most freshmen, seeming to understand some of the basics of his classes after a brief walkthrough.

Ai himself had found it really exciting to be able to take a peek at future study material. Sure they weren't in the same department, but some of the core classes would continue until it switched to focusing just on their majo. Being a literature major, one would think that he'd just focus on that subject when able. But Ai enjoyed mathematical problems as well. He also planned to take a few math courses in the future to help broaden his experience. This way he could have more than one option. It worked since both subjects appeased to him.

"Ai, have you. Other than study don't you do anything else?" Saoi finally asked one morning as Ai was busy making the day's meals for the male. "Hmn? What do you mean?" he asked to be taken back, it wasn't like they had talked much about other things. But he did remember saying he used a good deal of his time for school work or studying. He was still a bit flustered that he'd been gaming rather late into the night after studying.

"I mean, you said you study a lot, and you enjoy reading and stuff but, is that it?" the older male asked with a soft laugh. He really thought the smaller male was too adorable. Why was it that the more he tried to talk to the male, the less he understood?

Ai blushed a bit embarrassed before he finished adding some stuff to a pot before wiping his hands, getting ready to bring breakfast to the table. "Well I do, I mean I just started recently.." he said slightly flustered. "I am playing this VR game. It's really interesting, though kind of confusing?" he said tilting his head.

Saoi blinked before seeming confused. "How so?" he asked, only to get an unsure look from the other male as the food was sat down. After taking his seat, Ai slowly fiddled with his own plate while trying to think of how to word his next response.

"Well, it's a really popular game, at least from what I've seen online…" he began before taking a bite. "Though for some reason I've only ever met one person, other than the NPC monsters." he stated as if thinking on something. "He added me to his friends list, but I haven't seen him since the first day...I've been working really hard to level up, but he seems to be really busy." he stated.

He had tried his best not to feel too lonely while playing, it was someone he'd played with once! He just hoped Saoi wouldn't make fun of him for his fluctuation in moods.

Saoi seemed silent for a moment before shrugging. "Maybe he has work or something? Or he could be in high-school. It's exam season right now." he offered as if to help the other figure it out. Which seemed to work as Ai's mood improved. "That's right! It should be ending soon, so maybe he'll get on soon. Then I can figure out how to get into the towns. I want to find more friends to play with, but no matter how I wander around, I'm always lost in the forest!" he stated as if it wasn't his fault.

It truly wasn't though, Saoi seemed to let the conversation drop while slowly starting to eat. After finishing breakfast, Ai went to busy himself again to finish the last two meals before putting them away and cleaning up after himself. " See you tomorrow!" he called out to Saoi who had busied himself with his own tasks.

"En! Oh wait, Did you want to go somewhere tonight?" he asked as Ai was about to leave.

The smaller male paused before turning to look back at the other, a little lost. "Go somewhere?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, There's this get together with some of my classmates, they are all bringing some freshmen along with them for some drinks. Though they are most likely going to be from their same department, I don't really talk much with the younger freshmen in mine...So I was hoping you'd go, so I wouldn't be the odd one out." he said as if it was logical.

Ai wasn't really sure why Saoi wouldn't talk to his underclassmen in his department but he shrugged it off. "Sure." he stated.

"Good! I'll meet you in front of the dorms at 8pm then!" he said before waving Ai goodbye.

With nothing left, Ai gave his regards again before heading to his class.