ZelRoFz

You might be too soon to judge it. Don't judge the book by its cover or you might miss something that actually suits your taste. But the final decision is yours. ;)

There is romance, but it is not the main focus of the story, it will be mentioned here and there from time to time but not too overwhelmed. There are many couples and you won't find any harem in this story. I would say the author gives everyone time to lead or shine and there are several special chapters exclusively for each couple or character. The plot is fairly divided among main and sub characters so far. I would even consider everyone in mc's guild (friends he made) as equally as mc rather than being a sub characters You could treat it like a typical traditional fantasy story, it is not like nowadays harem Asian novels.

No, it's not.

It might not be like what you think. There will be a little plot twists here and there and a good one at that, you would be surprised when you get there. It's also a good read, so I recommend to try it yourself. I'm a fan from original language. If the story hooked you, you will be on a good ride ;)

No, there is no special effect or superpower/unnatural thing from the game in real world. It's treated like irl game but with some advance technologies that can be used to help with medical research/treatment (from the gaming gear that connected with your brain). You play and you make friends in there, then you become friends in real world. There are very few chapters that involved real world but they're mostly a touching story one. I would recommend to give it a try yourself.