Prologue

These days, full-dive VR games have finally become accessible to the general public, rapidly dominating the market and ushering in a true VR boom.

Who exactly demands these products? Of course, there are gamers of all types, from hardcore to casual, as per tradition. But the user base extends far beyond – real-life combat enthusiasts like martial artists and brawlers, patients and elderly people who can’t easily enjoy sports, parents wanting to combine recreation with family time, and so on. It’s fair to say they’re reaching a much broader audience than previous games.

Particularly popular in VR are MMOs. The combination of VR and MMOs is incredibly addictive. This is clear from how they stand head and shoulders above other VR genres.

After all, they’re very accessible. You can focus on mastering game mechanics, delve deep into PvP, or simply enjoy a slow life in the virtual world. That’s probably why they appeal to such a wide range of users as mentioned earlier.

The enjoyment of setting up your preferred avatar in a virtual world, building your character however you like, and playing with other players is something you can’t really experience elsewhere.

I too am one of those completely absorbed in the VRMMO “Break Force Online.”

BFO is a fantasy game set in an orthodox sword-and-magic world, but its appeal lies in the wide variety of classes, along with their associated equipment, combat skills, and magic.

My avatar, Theodore, is a Battle Mage – a pure combat-specialized magic class.

Today, just like any other day, I returned home from a brief outing and triumphantly put on my headgear, turning on the power. That’s when I first noticed the security alert. It was warning me that someone was inside my private area. Huh? Someone?

VR headgear has functions like this. While you’re logged in, it monitors your surroundings for abnormalities and notifies you even during gameplay. For example, it detects drops in body temperature or hunger, and as theft and mischief prevention features, it also detects when someone enters the set private area and alerts you.

But the front door was locked. And I live alone. I don’t have a girlfriend, nor any rude friends who’d barge in uninvited. In other words, there should be no reason for an alert about someone approaching. Normally, that is.

“…Huh?”

I activated the external monitor and looked around while still wearing the headgear, when my eyes met those of a man emerging from the closet.

I think this is an unfortunate event for both of us. If the alert had triggered after I logged in… I wouldn’t have been able to move my body, and would have simply watched the thief escape.

However, in the state where I’d only turned on the headgear’s power, I could still move my body and speak. Though it was through the headgear, he seemed to have noticed he’d been seen.

If I recall correctly—according to a university friend—there’s been a spate of burglaries in the neighborhood lately.

The man was holding a kitchen knife. Having judged that his face had been seen, he charged toward me as I lay down to log in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me—!?”

Why would he mistakenly think I’d logged in, reveal himself, and then immediately resort to eliminating a witness? If he hated having his face seen that much, I strongly thought he should have at least worn a ski mask.

I reflexively protected my neck, but he stabbed me somewhere else. A hot impact ran through my side. The man pressed the login switch on the headgear. Immediately, sensation began fading from my body.

Like this, I couldn’t even protect myself until the system finished processing. While bewildered by this structural flaw, I despairingly watched as the headgear completed its processing. Why did this have to happen?

—The first thing I felt was a sensation like being held.

My entire body felt numb, and I couldn’t move a single finger. I had no sense of up or down, and when I tried to check my surroundings, the scenery changed so rapidly that I couldn’t make heads or tails of anything.

Anyway, I was in water. I couldn’t breathe properly or swim well, and as I was rolling my eyes in panic, the rapidly moving scenery suddenly stopped. My arm was grabbed, and my body surfaced. I felt something hard against my back.

I was pulled from the water and laid down somewhere. I understood that much, but I didn’t understand why this was happening.

“Theodore-sama! Pull yourself together! Theodore-sama!”

I weakly opened my eyes and saw the relieved face of a beautiful blonde girl… Grace. I sat up and looked around. The place I was in seemed to be within Gartner County, in the town. There was a waterway nearby, and it appeared I’d been pulled from it.

Judging from Grace’s wet hair and clothes, she must have rescued me from the waterway. There were also unfamiliar adults around, so perhaps they helped too.

What exactly had happened to me? Was I logged into BFO? What was this event?

No, wait. What’s this about logging in? An event? Am I not Theodore?

…I was confused. While drowning, it felt like I’d been viewing memories of someone from some distant world—memories that this place was inside a game.

Kirishima Kagehisa — was it that I remembered the memories of a Japanese person by that name? But if that’s the case, it contradicts my ten years of memories as Theodore.

Because, you see. I had to accept that this place I was in now was inside a game. But both the recognition that I must be Theodore and the recognition that I must be Kirishima Kagehisa existed simultaneously, and I felt them as real.

…I don’t get it. If it were simple reincarnation and I’d just remembered a past life, that would be straightforward.

The abdomen that should have been stabbed felt completely fine.

I couldn’t even open my inventory, let alone logout or make a GM call, so even if there was something wrong, there was nothing I could do about it.

“A-are you o-okay?”

While I was lost in thought, Grace’s expression clouded over again. To reassure her, I awkwardly smiled. Grace is a servant of Count Gartner’s house. She’s what you’d call my personal attendant, and one of the few allies I have in that house.

“Hey hey, Theodore. You alright?”

The one who spoke to me with a sneering laugh was my half-brother Byron. Next to him was Daryl, Byron’s younger brother and his lackey.

Ah. I remembered. Someone pushed me into the waterway. Well, nine times out of ten, it was these guys.

Today, they’d told me to help carry bags since they were going shopping, so I’d accompanied them. Bringing Grace, my personal attendant, was probably because they wanted to humiliate me in front of her.

The idiot brothers Byron and Daryl are Gartner House’s unpleasant eldest and second sons who bully me over every little thing.

And I am the son of Count Gartner’s mistress.

After my mother died of illness, I was taken in by Count Gartner’s house, but I fundamentally don’t get along with my half-brothers.

It’s not so much that we don’t get along, but rather, how am I supposed to be friendly with guys who treat me like a dog or cat from the very beginning?

In BFO… during character creation, you can set and adjust your character’s background in considerable detail. By establishing your character’s personality through this, you can adjust your initial stats.

In terms of the game, this has no meaning beyond adjustment, and whether you roleplay accordingly in the game is optional… but for me now, roleplaying or not, this is unmistakably reality.

If the character creation settings conceived by Kirishima Kagehisa have become my current reality, I’d want to tell him not to come up with guys like these… but well,
it’s
(
・・・・
)
my own doing, after all. It might be that my reality was reflected in the other me.

Because he spent his childhood like this, Theodore(me) developed a strong tendency to seek power, resulting in initial stats suitable for a magician… as for the adjustment direction, Kagehisa(I) had thought about it that way.

Now then. What should I do from here? I gathered magical power in my hand, solidified it, and rolled it around while thinking.

“You should at least learn how to swim. You’re being taken care of by Count Gartner’s house, after all, so don’t embarrass us,”

said Daryl. His wording thoroughly refuses to acknowledge me as family. Fine by me. I don’t consider you guys family either.

The me from before would have bowed my head and behaved meekly, but now I couldn’t care less. I don’t feel the slightest need to endure.

“…Speaking of which, you probably don’t need to learn swimming to float in water. With all that blubber.”

“Huh?”

Daryl’s face turned bright red and contorted. Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to talk back, as Byron also furrowed his brows.

“…Hey. Theodore. Do you understand your position?”

“Nah, it’s just too bothersome. I absolutely hate having to cater to you idiots’ moods every single time.”

After all, I’m bullied almost daily. Getting beaten for no reason is a frequent occurrence.

Within Count Gartner’s house, my hierarchy is at the very bottom. As the mistress’s son and the smallest physically, I’ve endured very narrow circumstances, but I don’t need to endure anymore.

Thinking calmly, Father doesn’t actually dislike me, and I reckon he’d forgive me even if I acted out somewhat. Otherwise, why would he call me to the house?

“You bastard…”

I pointed at the ground before Byron’s feet—and to preempt him, activated the elementary wind magic Air Bullet.

“Tch!”

A wind bullet shot out and exploded the ground. Byron’s eyes widened, and he stopped moving.

“…You, since when could you use magic…?”

If he asks since when, it’d be “just now.” Really, all thanks to BFO. The magical knowledge Kirishima Kagehisa had acquired had directly become Theodore’s.

Though my magical power is still quite low, I can effortlessly use elementary magic chantless. Against someone like Byron, who’s proud of merely becoming a knight apprentice, I’m confident I could toy with him while humming.

My PvP experience is on a completely different level too.

“If you behave yourselves from now on, I think we can get along.”

When I said that, Byron twisted his face hatefully. With guys like these, it’s better to clearly establish the power dynamic.

“Theodore! Don’t get cocky just because you can use a little magic now!”

Byron seems to understand things to some extent, but it might have been a bit early for Daryl to comprehend power relations.

He gathered some stones and threw them at me. Grace, who was beside me, tried to step forward to shield me from the stones, but well, no need to worry.

Instead, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back, then spat toward Daryl.

“Get lost.”

I activated the same Air Bullet as before, but this time adjusted it not to focus. More than a wind bullet, it was more like a wall of storm wind, perhaps. It deflected and scattered the stones Daryl had thrown, then blew him away into the waterway. That much was effortless.

A scream and the sound of water echoed.

“Daryl!”

Hmm. Well, pretty much as I imagined.

Pointing with my thumb at Daryl struggling in the waterway, I glanced sideways at Byron and hooked him with my words.

“Now it’s your turn to help him, Byron. He’s your dear little brother, right?”

“…Remember this?”

“Hurry up and go. Grace, you don’t need to lift a finger. Byron. If you try to order anyone around here using the Count’s authority, I’ll push you into the waterway too?”

The sound of Byron grinding his teeth, then turning and jumping into the waterway echoed through the street.

Well, this should suffice as payback. For me to live comfortably from now on, these idiot brothers need to change their behavior and thinking.

But, living together with them is something I’d rather not do anymore. What should I do from here? Honestly, I think rotting away in this rural area is a waste of time.