3rd Cousin

The beautiful girl that greeted Misho was Maia Merkia. She had a baby face and a tender disposition. She was very nice and courteous to everyone she met.

She had a curvy body. By Misho's estimates, she was at least a B-cup.

She was sweeping the living room when she noticed Misho enter the room. It may sound weird, but such things were normal in this era.

Humans dislike doing nothing. Automatic vacuum robots may be popular in the past, but that changed. There were only so many menial works that humans needed to do these days.

People like Maia love to do such things. She was bound to become a good housewife in the future.

She wore a large T-shirt and short shorts as she approached Misho with a wide smile on her face.

"Hehehehe. Are you here to see me?" Maia teased.

She placed the sweeper and dustpan on the side of the door before she went forward and embraced him. It was a custom in their family to greet each other by embracing.

Misho couldn't help but take a good sniff of her smell. She smelled like a ripe green apple.

It was also her favorite fruit to eat.

"I'm actually here to see you. Where is grandma?" Misho asked as they embraced each other.

"Grandmother Ereal is playing that puzzle game again," Maia replied.

The two of them separated, and they stood close in front of each other.

What she was talking about was the game called Mandy Crush. It was a popular game for old people for some reason.

"Oh. Have you heard about Aphrodos before?" Misho asked her.

"You mean the very first fulldive VR game?"

"Yes."

Misho nodded his head.

"First, let's have a seat," Maia replied.

She led Misho inside, and they sat in front of a large thin television.

The two of them sat on the couch together.

"Are you inviting me to that game?" Maia asked.

She looked at Misho intently. Her eyes were scanning his face for lies.

"Ah… How do I say it? Yes. I do," Misho answered awkwardly.

A slight smile slowly blossomed on Maia's face.

"Hmmm… I never knew you were this bold," Maia said teasingly.

"*Cough* If we weren't 3rd cousins, I would never dare ask someone blood related to me."

It was legal to marry your 3rd cousin as the blood relationship was too small to cause any defect for the child. Though, at that point, the two of you are strangers with a minimal blood relationship.

Technically, all humans in the world had a common ancestor.

"Why me, though?" Maia asked with a frown on her face.

She never expected Misho to ask her out to such a game. After all, their family ties were quite close even though their blood relationship was not.

"Well, all the girls back in high school already have boyfriends, and I'm not that close with any of them. I also did not attend college, so… You're the only woman at my age that I know close enough," Misho explained with a flushed face.

It felt like he was confessing his love when he was not.

"You suck at women," Maia suddenly said.

"E-Eh??"

Misho was taken aback by her response. It stabbed him deep in his heart.

"Okay. Since you're so lonely, I will accompany you to that game. If you find someone else in the game, I will stop accompanying you. I will be your temporary partner in that world," Maia said with a caring smile on her face.

"Really? Why are you even going to play that game?" Misho asked.

It sounded so easy that he was still in disbelief.

"The game developer said that the game will be able to increase your lifespan the stronger you become in the game. I also researched about that subject. It seems to be true," Maia explained.

As a woman born in the 22nd Century, she was keen on details. She had already researched about it before.

"What was the reason?" Misho asked curiously.

Her words piqued his attention. The only reason he was playing that game was because of the promise that it would be the first fulldive VR game, and it was centered around sexual pleasure.

"Hehehe. Have you bought a capsule yet?" Maia asked instead.

"Yeah. Why are you asking?" Misho asked in confusion.

"It will be explained to you by the AI," Maia said and smiled at him mysteriously.

"Eh? Why are you hiding it from me?"

Misho was beyond confused now. Was it really so hard to explain it to him? He wasn't an idiot.

"You haven't thanked me yet!"

Maia crossed her arms, looked away, and pouted at him.

"..."

Misho's cheeks twitched in annoyance. It was so insignificant, yet she's taking it out on him. Oh, women. They are so unreliable.

"Thank you, Maia," Misho said in a deadpan voice.

"You don't sound sincere enough!"

"Oh, Misho, you're here," an elderly woman's voice said.

Misho turned his head and saw his Grandmother Ereal. She had silver hair and looked like a woman in her 30s.

It may sound weird, but she was actually 89 years old already. Due to the higher quality of life, she still looked so young.

"Grandmother…"

Misho stood up and embraced her as a greeting.

"Mm. Mm. You're growing up so well," Grandmother Ereal said and smiled at him.

She was happy to see her Grandson grow big.

"You're embarrassing me, Grandma," Misho said wryly.

He glanced at Maia and saw her laughing silently.

"What? I can't praise my Grandson?" Grandmother Ereal said with a raised eyebrow.

"No, no, no! You definitely can!" Misho immediately replied.

That look of her means that she would spank him on his butt. He was already an adult. If he got spanked in front of Maia, he would never be able to show his face in front of her ever again.

"Good. Why were the two of you so close to each other?" Grandmother Ereal asked suspiciously.