Chapter 1:
Bear Gear, I Choose You!
THE WORLD’S FIRST VRMMO (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online) fantasy RPG—a game with a diverse array of races, numerous classes, and a variety of skills for broad gameplay—was called World Fantasy Online. Today, a year after it went on sale, the game was finally receiving a long-awaited update.
I was fifteen years old, and it had been three years since I became a hermit. I’d come across WFO about a year ago and immediately forgone going to school in favor of dedicating everything I had to the game. What about sleep, you might ask? I slept eight whole hours a night! I did still get tired, y’know. My first priority was sleep, the second was tasty grub, and the third was the game.
And school? Only idiots went to school.
There’s a neat little thing called the stock market in this world. You invested money, sat back, and watched it grow. It was easy—just like a game. All you had to do was acquire the right information, and then collect the money that flowed right in.
But when I told my parents about my activities, they were like, “School is where you make friends.” Friends? Do friends taste good? Their nagging got so bad that I finally just handed them a hundred million yen I’d made by playing the stock market, and they shut right up. They even—get this—stopped coming home. They’re probably off spending that money right now, having the time of their lives. I assumed they’d come asking for more once it was gone, so I switched residences to a luxury condo without telling them. Goodbye, parents; it was nice knowing you.
Sure, I was fifteen, but I had money, I was an adequate cook, and I was perfectly fine living on my own. S’all good as long as I can send my laundry out to the cleaners.
I was playing solo when I started up WFO on the day of the hotly anticipated update, like always. I didn’t want to waste a single second, so I logged in the second maintenance ended and the update was done patching.
“Welcome back, Lady Yuna. Would you like to hear about the updates?”
On login, a girl in a maid outfit guided me through the menu. She was a guide NPC I’d selected on my first playthrough. Given the choice between a butler and a maid, I hadn’t hesitated to pick the cuter option.
“No need. Just hurry up and start the game.”
“Understood,” she said. “Then we will commence the update campaign.”
“There was one of those?”
“You have received a gift item based on your total hours of gameplay from the past year.”
“Really!” I was second to none in this game when it came to total hours logged. I wasn’t a recluse for nothing, after all.
“Please choose whichever box you’d like.”
A trove of giftboxes appeared before me, stretching as far as the eye could see. There were too many to even count.
“You want me to choose from these?”
“Yes, please choose the one you like.”
I didn’t even know where to start, but there was no point in overthinking it. I chose the box right at the maid’s feet. The rest of the boxes vanished the moment I touched it, so there was clearly no changing my mind.
I opened the box…
“The heck is this?!”
Item Name: Bear Set
Right Hand: Black Bear Glove (Nontransferable)
Left Hand: White Bear Glove (Nontransferable)
Right Foot: Black Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)
Left Foot: White Bear Shoe (Nontransferable)
Clothing: Black and White Bear Clothes (Nontransferable)
I’d wanted to start playing right away, but the ridiculous freebies made me balk. Even a friendless hermit like me drew the line at parading around in something this embarrassing. And they were nontransferable, so they were doomed to molder in my inventory. I supposed it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at the item descriptions…
Black Bear Glove
Attack glove, increases power based on the user’s level.
White Bear Glove
Defense glove, increases defense based on the user’s level.
Black Bear Shoe and White Bear Shoe
Increase speed based on the user’s level.
Prevent fatigue when walking long distances based on the user’s level.
Black Bear Clothes
Appears to be a onesie. Reversible.
Front: Black Bear Clothes
Increases physical and magic resistance based on the user’s level.
Gives heat and cold resistance.
Reverse: White Bear Clothes
Automatically restores health and mana. Amount and speed based on the user’s level.
Gives heat and cold resistance.
What was with these broken items? Someone who was already at the level cap, like me, would be unstoppable in these. I still didn’t know if I was brave enough to don this onesie thing—but it would be a waste of great items not to.
Could I put up with the embarrassment just because of how strong it would make me?
“Lady Yuna, is something the matter?”
“It’s fine.” Well, it wasn’t like I needed to equip it right this instant. I could take some time to think it over. “Okay. Start the game.”
“I apologize. There is a questionnaire to finish things off.”
“That’s new.”
“I apologize. It is a questionnaire limited to customers who have logged a high number of hours in-game.”
“Well, if I have to.”
“Thank you very much. Do you enjoy World Fantasy Online more than reality?”
“Of course. Reality shmeality.”
“Do you have anyone important to you in the real world?”
“I don’t have anyone like that.” My parents were gold diggers, and I didn’t have friends because I wasn’t going to school.
“Do you have a best friend in the real world?”
“I don’t. These questions are kind of off-putting…”
“Do you have anything important to you in the real world?” The maid ignored my objections and wouldn’t respond to any of my questions. Instead, she kept repeating her current prompt until she got an answer.
“Money, I guess?”
………………
…
The questions went on and on. I wondered: how many of these was I supposed to sit through?
“Do you believe in God?”
“Like, do I have faith? Of course I don’t. All I believe in is my own abilities.”
“And finally, do you think the bear gear is cute?”
“I do, but I don’t want to equip it.”
“Understood. Thank you
