I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"...Damn it."

"From now on, I absolutely must keep my distance from that guy, Koichiro Yuuki!"

"Congratulations, host, you have received the reward: Overlord's Command (Status) (once)."

……

October 9th, Thursday.

After a heavy rain last night, a light drizzle took over this morning.

The autumn rain enveloped the entire city like mist, and everything looked hazy from the car window, just like the autumn rain itself.

The umbrellas, like canopies, flowed swiftly through the light gray streets.

When the lunch break bell rang, Yuu Tenkuji found an excuse to ask Hiratsuka-sensei for leave and quietly left early to go home.

However, after leaving the school, she changed direction and went alone to "Ichiyo Gakujuku", which is about 52 kilometers away from Chiba Station.

"Hello, I am Yuu Tenkuji, a second-year student at Chiba Municipal Soubu High School."

He stared at the admissions director who was looking at him with a questioning gaze, smiled, and then blinked his eyes.

The next moment, her flawless acting skills silently filled the air.

"—"

Driven by her own ambitions, Yuuki Tenkuji wouldn't be polite to extras who couldn't even write their own names. She immediately unleashed her most powerful "Truth Bullet," and with a little money, she successfully got them to agree to her demands.

It didn't take long for him to leave "Yiye Academy" and have lunch at a family restaurant. He flipped through his brand-new tutoring notes while waiting for the sun to set behind the clouds.

Everything is ready now, except for the female lead.

Chapter Sixty-Two: I'll Wait for You in Reality (Part Two)

"People are always unsure of where to go because there are always too many or too few paths ahead, and most of them can't find a direction that suits them..."

"Alright, Yuki-kun, please have a seat."

"Yes."

After reading a passage, Asuna Yuuki sat down with her textbook in her arms.

After her fingers lightly traced over the passage she had just read, she turned to look out the window at the sky.

The continuous autumn rain enveloped the entire city like mist.

The greyish-white sky blurred the passage of time, remaining unchanged from morning to afternoon, seemingly only changing when night fell.

Asuna, resting her chin on her hand, gazed absently at the quiet, swaying rain scene.

"Wait, and hold onto hope..." Yu-kun, how long will you make me wait?

Involuntarily, the conversation from last night came to mind.

Looking back now, Asuna Yuuki is surprised by her own boldness—she was so scared in the morning, but in the evening, because of a few words from her mother, she mustered up the courage to contact him.

Does that count as taking a step forward?

Not only did she confidently contradict her mother and loudly express her own opinions, but she also stopped being troubled by the boundary between virtual and reality, uttering words to him that were equivalent to "I want to see you"...

While feeling shy, Asuna Yuuki was also wondering—had she, having made these choices, already embarked on the right path he had described, a path she would never regret?

"To have that kind of confidence is truly a remarkable thing..."

Sighing, she couldn't help but recall yesterday when she confessed to her mother that she had someone she liked.

Her ears burned and her face flushed, but no matter what, Asuna Yuuki didn't want to deny her feelings in this regard.

"So, when did I start to like him?"

Asuna Yuuki pondered this question for a long time, even after school ended, but she couldn't come up with an answer that truly satisfied her.

Just like her mother said, she's already a "bad girl" who's "dating online".

△

After school, as Asuna Yuuki prepared to leave the classroom, her classmates who had greeted her said this with smiles:

"Yuki-kun, you seem to be in a good mood today. You look much better than yesterday."

"Really?" She touched her face, frowning in confusion. "I didn't even notice it myself. There's no change when I look in the mirror."

"Really, really? Did something good happen?" someone else immediately asked, their voice slightly louder with curiosity.

Instantly, the gossipy atmosphere acted like a powerful magnet, attracting the girls nearby who weren't in a hurry to go home.

"Ah, that..."

Seeing that the situation was gradually spiraling out of control, Asuna Yuuki quickly turned around and waved to her classmates who were staring at her with probing eyes:

"We'll talk about this tomorrow! I have to go to my tutoring class, so I'll be going now! Good morning, everyone!"

Behind her, there was a chorus of disappointed sighs, but Yuuki Asuna felt no remorse whatsoever towards those who liked to gossip.

As she walked towards the shoe lockers, she happened to see the fencing club members warming up in the rhythm classroom on the first floor.

They held their fencing with perfect posture, their beautiful figures encased in white and gray protective suits, moving with measured steps as they exchanged blows with their opponents.

After only a few glances, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but sigh:

"So weak..."

Although they are much stronger than the "Rampaging Wild Boars," they might not last more than a few minutes against the "Pig-Headed People" and "Minotaur People" before being smashed to pieces and captured and taken home alive.

Without the posture, but lacking the sharpness and will that the sword embodies, no one can defeat such "sword skills".

If it were in Aincrad...

No, even now, if you give Asuna a rapier and let her have an indiscriminate fight with the fencing club members...

She felt an unconscious confidence that she could probably chop all of them into polygonal pieces in no more than five minutes.

Asuna Yuuki shook her head, stopped lingering, and continued to the shoe cabinet to change her shoes.

"If it were him, it probably wouldn't even take a minute."

With a hint of helplessness, she smiled slightly and narrowed her eyes into shallow crescent moons.

Even though I haven't seen him make a move many times, this trust is much stronger than my confidence just now.

After all, some things can be deeply understood once you've experienced them.

"...Have you fought him once?"

The thought flashed through her mind, and Yuuki Asuna thought about it seriously before finally slumping her shoulders in resignation.

Let alone accepting the duel invitation... With my mother's personality, she would never agree to enter the virtual world with me, right?

Furthermore, the idea that a fight can solve all problems feels too brutal and completely unlike a girl's...

Although she really liked it.

Her smile turned into a bitter one, and Asuna Yuuki suddenly realized that even though she didn't think she had the courage to change the facts, she had unknowingly become a slightly different version of herself from the past.

No matter how slow her steps were, the faltering footprints she left behind were ultimately her own unique path.

Okay, that's good.

……

The chestnut-haired girl changed her shoes and stepped out of the school building.

Even if it's raining outside, as long as you can open an umbrella, it will be sunny under the umbrella.

Holding the pure white umbrella over her head, Asuna Yuuki walked alone into the rain. Raindrops swayed in the wind and landed on her body, while a chill crept in through the collar of her coat.

The school gate was some distance from the pick-up point. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, she took out her phone, opened LINE, and nervously made a call.

The call connected after only a few seconds of busy signal. She quickly cleared her throat twice and asked in a deliberately sweet voice, "Hello, is this Mr. Tenkuji Yu?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a quick, deep reply:

"No car loans, no insurance, no credit cards, and no sales pitches or flirting unless you're a beautiful 17-year-old girl. Otherwise, it's all off the table."

Asuna: "..."

"Okay, is there anything else you want to say? If not, I'll hang up."

"You really are..." Asuna bit her lip slightly, took a deep breath of the earthy, rain-dampened air, and said, amused and annoyed, "Are you teasing me again? Who would say something like that without knowing who called?"

He replied with a slight smile, "This is the first time I've called you, isn't it normal that I don't recognize your voice?"

She said in a tone that sounded like a complaint, but also like a coquettish one, "Stop lying~ I called using LINE, and I could clearly see the caller before the call was connected."

“Okay, I’m not acting anymore,” Yuu Tenkuji said. “What do you need me for? I’m still studying, and I have a lot of ‘homework’ to do today.”

"Oh, did I disturb you? I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, just let me meow a few times as compensation."

"Yu-kun, please wait until tonight to dream." Using a gentle yet firm tone to suppress his frivolousness, Yuuki Asuna hesitated for half a second before finally speaking:

Should we meet in real life?

"Really? I'll be nervous."

This obviously joking remark dispelled any remaining hesitation in Asuna Yuuki's heart, and a smile returned to her face: "So, how are you going to 'team up' with me? Are you just going to keep contacting me by phone?"

“That makes sense…” he sighed. “Alright, since you want to see me so much, let me prepare. Let’s arrange to meet at a nice place another time.”

"That's really putting you in a difficult position..." A vein throbbed on her forehead, and a murderous intent, as if she wanted to stab him to death with a rapier, appeared on her face, but unfortunately, no one could see it.

As they chatted, they unconsciously walked out of the school gate. Looking at the familiar car in the pick-up area, Asuna Yuuki's tone became slightly serious: "How about this Sunday? I'll try my best to get time with my mother."

"Well, I don't have anything to do, so I can work around your schedule."

"That's good." She breathed a sigh of relief, and before ending the call, her slender fingers gripped the umbrella handle tightly. Finally, as if making a decision, she spoke:

"Yu-kun!"

"what happened?"

"After leaving, I realized that I actually really liked that world, and I also...missed the days when we played games together."

"Yes, me too."