Full-dive VR games had finally become easily accessible to the general public, rapidly dominating the market. These days, VR is absolutely thriving.
VR games. In other words, a blanket term for games where you can dive into the game world and see, hear, and even taste things with your own body. Until recently, it was something strictly in the realm of science fiction.
If you ask who has a demand for this sort of thing, it naturally includes both hardcore and casual gamers, just as before. However, the appeal spans a wide array of demographics: martial artists and street brawlers looking for a fight, the sick and elderly who can’t easily enjoy sports, and even parents who want to balance recreation with family time. It’s safe to say these games have resonated with a much broader audience than traditional gaming ever did.
MMOs are particularly popular in the VR space. The combination of VR and MMOs is highly addictive. You can easily tell just by looking at the player count, which stands head and shoulders above any other genre of VR game.
After all, the barrier to entry is low. You can choose to master the game’s mechanics, dedicate yourself to PvP, or simply enjoy a slow, peaceful life in a virtual world. That’s likely why it appeals to the broad range of users I mentioned earlier.
The joy of creating your ideal avatar, building your character however you like, and playing with other people in a virtual world is something you just can’t experience anywhere else.
I was one of those people completely engrossed in the VRMMO, Break Force Online.
While BFO was an orthodox fantasy game set in a world of swords and sorcery, its true charm lay in the massive variety of character classes and the equipment, martial arts, and magic that came with them.
My avatar, Theodor, was a Battle Mage—a purely combat-oriented magic class.
Today was no different. Returning home from a brief outing, I eagerly strapped on my headgear and powered on my VR machine. That was when I first noticed the security alert. A warning flashed, notifying me that someone was inside my private area.
Huh? Someone’s here?
VR headgear came equipped with features like this. While logged in, it monitored for any abnormalities in the real world and notified the user even during gameplay. For instance, it would alert you to a drop in body temperature or hunger. As an anti-theft and anti-tamper measure, it also detected and warned you if someone entered your designated private area.
However, my front door was locked. Moreover, I lived alone. I didn’t have a girlfriend, nor did I have any ill-mannered friends who would just barge in uninvited. In other words, an alert warning me of someone’s approach shouldn’t have been sounding. Normally, at least.
“Huh?”
I activated the external monitor and, with my headgear still on, glanced around the room. My eyes immediately met those of a man stepping out of my closet.
I think this was an unfortunate turn of events for both of us. Had the alert gone off after I fully logged in… I would have been paralyzed, left with no choice but to simply watch the burglar run away.
However, simply turning on the headgear meant I could still move my body and speak. Even through the visor, he clearly realized I had seen him.
Now that I thought about it… a friend from university mentioned there had been a string of burglaries in the neighborhood lately.
The man had a kitchen knife gripped tightly in his hand. Deciding he couldn’t leave a witness, he lunged straight at me as I lay there preparing to log in.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me—!?”
Why would you mistakenly assume I was logged in, reveal yourself, and immediately jump to murdering the witness? I strongly felt that if he hated having his face seen that much, he should have at least worn a ski mask.
I instinctively shielded my neck, but the blade pierced somewhere else. A searing, hot impact tore through my side. The man then slammed his hand onto the login switch on my headgear. Almost immediately, all sensation began to fade from my body.
In this state, I couldn’t even defend myself until the system finished its boot sequence. Stunned by this glaring design flaw, I watched helplessly in despair as the headgear processed the login. Why… did it have to end like this?
◆◆◆◆◆
The first thing I felt was the sensation of being held in someone’s arms.
My entire body felt numb, rendering me unable to move a single finger. I had no sense of up or down, and even when I tried to grasp my surroundings, the scenery shifted dizzily around me. I couldn’t make heads or tails of anything.
At the very least, I knew I was underwater. As I flailed my eyes in panic, completely unable to breathe or swim properly, the rapidly spinning scenery abruptly stopped. Someone grabbed my arm, pulling my body to the surface. I felt a solid surface against my back.
I had been dragged out of the water and laid down somewhere. I understood that much, but I had no idea why this was happening.
“Theodor-sama! Please, stay with me! Theodor-sama!”
I cracked my eyes open to see a beautiful blonde girl… Grace, her face flush with relief. I pushed my upper body up and looked around. We seemed to be in the middle of a town within the Gartner Earldom. There was a waterway nearby, which was likely where I had just been pulled from.
Judging by her soaking wet hair and clothes, Grace must have been the one who saved me from drowning. Given the unfamiliar adults standing around, they might have lent a hand as well.
What the hell happened to me? Am I logged into BFO? What kind of event is this?
No, wait. What’s a login? What’s an event? Aren’t I Theodor?
…There was a stark confusion within my mind. While I was drowning, I felt as though I was viewing the memories of someone from a distant world—memories telling me that this place was inside a game.
Does this mean I’ve just recalled the memories of a Japanese man named Kirishima Kagehisa? But if that’s true, it directly contradicts my thirteen years of memories as Theodor.
I mean, obviously. I have to accept that this world is a game. Yet, the absolute certainty that I am Theodor and the absolute certainty that I am Kirishima Kagehisa both exist simultaneously within my mind, feeling entirely real.
…I don’t get it. If this were a simple case of reincarnation where I just remembered my past life, things would be much easier to digest.
My abdomen, which should have been stabbed, felt perfectly fine.
Since I can’t log out, make a GM call, or even open my inventory… if there is some anomaly, there’s nothing I can do about it anyway.
“I’m… alright,” I murmured.
Seeing me lost in thought, Grace’s expression began to cloud over again. I offered her a stiff smile to put her at ease. Grace was a servant of the Gartner Earldom. She was my personal maid, and one of my few allies in that household.
“Well, well, Theodor. You alright?”
The one addressing me with a sneering grin was my older half-brother, Byron. Beside him stood his younger brother and loyal sycophant, Daryl.
Ah. Now I remember. Someone shoved me into the waterway. Well, nine times out of ten, it was these two.
I was forced to tag along with them today to carry their bags while they shopped. The only reason they let me bring my personal servant, Grace, was likely because they wanted to humiliate me in front of her.
Byron and Daryl, the idiotic brother duo, were the loathsome eldest and second sons of the Gartner family who took every opportunity to bully me.
And I… was the illegitimate son of Earl Gartner.
After my mother passed away from an illness, I was taken in by the Gartner Earldom family, but I clashed horribly with my half-brothers.
More accurately, how was I supposed to get along with people who treated me like a stray dog from the very beginning?
In BFO… during character creation, you could define and adjust your avatar’s background in extensive detail. Establishing the character’s personality in this way allowed players to fine-tune their initial stats.
While this had no real significance beyond stat adjustments from a gameplay perspective, and whether you actually roleplayed that background was entirely up to you… for me right now, this wasn’t some roleplay. It was my indisputable reality.
If Kirishima Kagehisa’s character creation settings have become my current reality, I really want to tell him to lay off inventing such awful people… But I suppose I’m essentially cursing myself. It’s equally possible that this situation exists because my reality here reflected back onto my other self over there.
Because Theodor lived through this kind of childhood, he grew up with a strong desire for power, resulting in initial stats perfectly suited for a mage… That was the stat allocation logic Kagehisa had in mind. Ultimately, however, whatever Kagehisa set up wasn’t important to me. I couldn’t care less about Byron, Daryl, or the rest of the Gartner Earldom family.
…Now then. What should I do? I wondered, gathering, condensing, and rolling mana around in my hand.
“You should at least learn how to swim. You’re freeloading off the Gartner Earldom family, so the least you can do is not embarrass us,” Daryl spat.
His tone thoroughly rejected any notion that I was family. Bring it on. I don’t consider you bastards to be family, either.
Until just moments ago, I would have hung my head and endured it quietly, but not anymore. I didn’t feel the slightest need to put up with their abuse.
“…Well, look who’s talking. You probably don’t even need to learn how to swim to float. You’re nothing but blubber,” I shot back.
“Huh?!”
Daryl’s face twisted, turning bright red. Likely surprised that I had talked back, Byron furrowed his brow as well.
“…Hey. Theodor. Do you realize your position?” Byron growled.
“Nah, I’m just sick of it. I am absolutely done kissing up to your stupid faces,” I replied.
After all, they tormented me on a daily basis. Getting beaten for no reason was a frequent occurrence.
I sat at the absolute bottom of the Gartner Earldom family’s hierarchy. As the illegitimate child and the smallest of the three, I had spent my life feeling small and marginalized, but there was no reason to put up with it any longer.
Thinking about it logically, Father didn’t hate me, so I figured I could get away with acting out a little. Otherwise, he never would have brought me into this house in the first place.
“You little bastard…”
Byron tried to step forward, but I pointed at his feet—and preempted him by casting the basic Wind spell, Air Bullet.
“Ghk!”
The bullet of wind slammed down, blasting the ground apart. Byron’s eyes went wide as he froze in his tracks.
“…Since when… could you use magic…?”
If you ask me since when, it would literally be “just now.” Man, BFO is a lifesaver. The magical knowledge Kirishima Kagehisa amassed has directly become Theodor’s.
Though my mana pool was understandably low, I could flawlessly cast basic magic using Chantless Casting without issue. I was confident I could toy with someone like Byron, who only had his title as an Apprentice Knight to boast about, while humming a tune. After all, the sheer difference in our PvP experience was staggering.
“If you just behave yourselves from now on, I think we could get along just fine,” I taunted.
Byron’s face distorted with intense hatred at my words. It’s best to clearly establish the pecking order with guys like this.
“Theodor! Don’t get cocky just because you can use a little magic!” Daryl shouted.
While Byron seemed to understand the situation to some degree, Daryl was apparently too slow to grasp the new power dynamic.
He scooped up a handful of rocks and hurled them at me. Grace stepped forward to shield me, but there was no need to worry.
I simply grabbed her arm and pulled her back, spitting a single word at Daryl.
“Get lost.”
I cast Air Bullet again, but this time I adjusted it so it wouldn’t compress. Rather than a bullet of air, it was closer to a wall of gale-force winds. It scattered the rocks Daryl threw, blowing him clean away and dumping him into the waterway. A feat like that was child’s play.
A scream and a loud splash echoed through the streets.
“Daryl!”
Hmm. Turned out exactly how I pictured it.
I jabbed my thumb toward Daryl, who was thrashing about in the waterway, and shot a sidelong glance at Byron.
“It’s your turn to save someone, Byron. He is your precious little brother, after all,” I remarked.
“…You’ll regret this.”
“Just go already. Grace, don’t help them. And Byron… if you try throwing the Earl family’s name around to make someone else do it, I’ll toss you in there myself.”
Grinding his teeth, Byron turned on his heel. The sound of him diving into the waterway echoed down the street.
Well, that’s enough payback for now. If I want to live comfortably from here on out, I need those two idiots to seriously reconsider their attitudes and actions.
Still, I’m absolutely done living under the same roof as them. What should I do now? Honestly, rotting away in a backwater province like this is a waste of time.
I’m sure… I can go anywhere now. Instead of being tied down to this place, I can seek out a new life in a new home. I should have more than enough power to make it happen.
◆◆◆◆◆
“—That was nothing more than a childish squabble.”
A few days later. My father, Henry, had caught me practicing magic in a corner of the garden and summoned me to his study.
Apparently, Daryl had cried to his mother, Kathryn, who in turn cried to Father.
“I heard you used magic to unilaterally toy with them,” Henry pressed.
It seemed Father had no intention of divulging the exact details Kathryn had fed him. He likely planned to compare our stories and deduce the truth from there.
Kathryn had probably exaggerated the situation entirely. Given that Daryl likely embellished the story when he complained to her, the tale had undoubtedly grown arms and legs by the time it reached Father.
They probably think that even if I defend myself, Father will only believe their side of the story.
“They were the ones who shoved me into the waterway first. I merely fired a warning shot at Byron’s feet, but Daryl was the one who threw rocks at me with the intent to hit. I only defended myself. Are you saying I should have just sat there and let him pelt me with stones?”
I felt no guilt. I genuinely believed it was nothing more than a childish squabble, and from my current perspective, it was barely a slap on the wrist.
Even with just basic magic, I could tell I’d have a body count on my hands if I got serious. My recent practice sessions had only confirmed it.
After all, my magical knowledge and sense for mana manipulation remained intact from my memories. The only thing lacking was my total mana capacity, and I already knew exactly how to train and increase it.
“Be that as it may, Theodor—”
“…Would you like proof?” I challenged.
“Do you have any?”
With a shrug, I stripped off my shirt and showed him my back.
“…This is…”
I could hear his voice stiffen. Several fresh bruises mottled my back. There weren’t a countless amount, but there were definitely too many to pass off as a simple accident.
“Please don’t tell me that meeting violence with violence is wrong. I simply defended myself. Considering the future, I needed to put my foot down sooner or later. Frankly, you should be praising me for holding back and settling things as a childish squabble,” I declared.
I made sure to emphasize the “childish squabble” part.
“…I understand. I’ll have a talk with Byron and Daryl.”
“Then you should speak with your wife as well.”
“…Wh-What?”
The color drained from Father’s face.
“Isn’t it obvious? If you didn’t raise those two to act like that, then it goes without saying who fanned the flames of their hatred toward me.”
“Did… Did Kathryn strike you herself…?”
“Not with her hands. I received a riding crop instead. It was just the day before yesterday, so the marks should still be on my back. Aside from that, she’s apparently been restricting Grace’s actions using her Seal Ring. I was pretty disgusted when Grace told me.”
Father’s eyes widened slightly. The reason he didn’t check my back again was likely because he had already recognized the distinct welts of a riding crop from his previous glance.
Hearing that Kathryn had been restricting Grace’s actions was evidently a complete shock to him as well. He pressed a hand to his forehead as if warding off a massive headache.
Preventing her from saving me, for instance. Or stopping her from reporting the abuse to Father. If the master held malicious intent, they could easily enforce those kinds of orders using the ring Grace constantly wore.
To be precise, it was a Cursed Tool forged into the shape of a ring.
Its original purpose was to erase racial weaknesses at the cost of nullifying racial strengths. In reality, it was a derivative of the subjugation magic used on slaves to prevent disobedience, escape, and rebellion. However, by accepting this artifact and handing her autonomy to others, she was permitted to live among humans and blend into everyday society.
Grace was a Dhampira… a half-human, half-vampire hybrid. There were only three “masters” who could issue her commands through the ring: Father, my late mother, and lastly, Kathryn. That was it. Byron and Daryl weren’t granted that authority.
That made sense. Even Kathryn wasn’t stupid enough to hand the reins of a vampire over to her idiotic children.
“…I’m sorry for failing to notice, Theo,” Henry apologized.
“It’s fine. You’re a busy man, Father,” I said.
When I intentionally delivered the line devoid of all emotion, he offered me a strained smile.
“Is there… anything you want me to do for you?”
“…I would like to move somewhere far away and live in peace. Wouldn’t that put your mind at ease too, rather than maintaining this tightrope situation where a magic-user like me is living under the same roof as people who actively despise him? Even the servants are overwhelmingly on your wife’s side. The only ally I have is Grace. Honestly, I’ve felt like I’ve been walking on eggshells ever since I arrived here.”
“…I’ll consider it.”
I’m slightly worried Father is going to develop an ulcer at this rate. But I might as well strike while the iron is hot. Since I’ve held back from being selfish until now, I’m going to say absolutely everything I want to say.
“Ah, as a personal request, I’d prefer to go to Termwills.”
“Why there?”
“I’ve reached the limit of what I can teach myself by secretly reading books from your study. If I went there, I’m sure my magical studies would progress by leaps and bounds. It’s a reasonably dangerous place too, so I’m sure your wife and her sons would fully support the idea.”
Father let out a long, heavy sigh.
“…It seems I have vastly misjudged you and our family. Theo… I had no idea you were so proficient in magic, nor did I realize you were so eloquent.”
“We were all playing innocent, Father. Me, and them. I just didn’t want you to hate me,” I replied.
Well, the part about me playing innocent was actually a lie.
After all, it’s impossible to learn advanced techniques like Chantless Casting just by reading books in a study. Before my past life’s memories awakened, the best I could do was cast basic magic with spoken incantations.
But I might as well leave it at that. From an adult’s perspective, kids have a tendency to snap and go rogue without warning, anyway.