I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

A member of the virtual reality research club immediately approached, and after a few words, the girl took out her phone and exchanged LINE IDs with him.

After the girl left the virtual research lab, the member stood there with his head up, eyes closed in deep thought. Suddenly, he raised his phone and slowly turned around.

Then, he proudly basked in the envious gazes of the other members, who were green with envy.

"...Is this all you've done together?"

With a slightly puzzled smile, Asuna Yuuki tilted her head and glanced at the president of the Virtual Research Club.

His gaze conveyed contempt very subtly.

"These are just some individual actions by members; please do not generalize them to the entire club."

He pushed up his glasses, his expression remaining calm and rigid, seemingly quite confident.

A bead of cold sweat slowly slid down his forehead, making him look like a small animal being watched by a lion, trembling slightly.

"never mind."

Asuna Yuuki sighed helplessly, too lazy to argue with someone she wasn't close to. After roughly checking the equipment based on her brother's advice, she turned to the president of the Virtual Reality Research Club and said:

"It looks fine, and you all seem to take good care of the machine. I'll tell my brother when I get back."

"Thank you so much."

Asuna Yuuki looked up at the arena screen. The next match was about to begin. Because they were using special test accounts, each player's virtual avatar was randomized, and the only thing they could choose was their gender.

Both sides were men. The one on the left was probably the champion of the virtual reality competition, as his virtual body's movements were very skilled; the one on the right was still a bit clumsy, or rather, it was his first time playing this kind of immersive holographic virtual game, and he was still getting used to everything in the virtual world.

The person on the left didn't rush to start the match. Instead, he went over and carefully taught the other person some basic knowledge, such as the key points of sword techniques and body movements.

"Although it's called a tournament, we virtual reality researchers won't hold back on anything related to the game."

Seeing her looking thoughtfully at the screen, the president of the Virtual Research Club explained at the right moment: "Konno is the strongest player in our club. She has won dozens of matches since she became the champion, and no one has ever been defeated by her."

"An undefeated player, huh?" Raising an eyebrow, Asuna Yuuki unconsciously smiled, her eager expression gradually brightening. "Aren't you afraid of protests if you treat your customers like this?"

"Why should we, as researchers in the virtual world, need to explain our work to outsiders?"

With a calm expression, the president of the Virtual Research Club spoke with an air of dominance, and then added, "And even though we won, Konno-kun made sure to give each participant a great gaming experience, letting them have as much fun as possible before winning the tournament."

"That's amazing? No one can do something like that without considerable skill."

Her tone was full of admiration, but Asuna Yuuki's smile grew even brighter: "As expected, it's in competitions like this that you have a chance to compete against masters you don't usually encounter!"

"..."

The president of the Virtual Research Society pushed up his glasses, suddenly feeling a little afraid to look her in the eye.

It was as if a shooting star had shone in its pupils, and it also carried the sharpness of a sword.

It was as if she had suddenly transformed from a gentle young lady into a battle-hardened warrior, her sword drawn, its sharpness so striking that it made people want to back away.

“I said, can I go up and play too?” she suddenly asked, but in a tone of certainty.

"...It's possible, but you'll have to wait in line."

Without asking any further questions, the president of the Virtual Research Club directly added Asuna Yuuki's name to the list.

After Konno-kun pressed the time limit and sent the three challengers away, Asuna Yuuki walked behind the curtain.

Noticing the scene, a club member walked over and asked in confusion, "Club president, isn't that Yuuki-senpai's sister?"

That's right.

"The young lady of the Yuuki family... they developed the machine, so she should be more proficient at using it than the rest of us. Konno-chan won't lose to her, will she?"

"I don't know." A cold glint flashed in his glasses, revealing his deep, slightly narrowed eyes.

"However, even that senior Yuki lost to Konno without any chance of resistance when they competed in private."

That was just Konno herself, not Konno's sister who is currently hospitalized. That sister is probably the strongest player in the entire game... but there's no need to tell outsiders about this.

The president of the Virtual Research Society pushed up his glasses and stared at the virtual object on the left side of the screen with a serious expression.

"Really?!" A club member's eyes widened in surprise, then she said with a slight sense of relief, "In that case, the other side no longer has the advantage of being familiar with the equipment. In terms of pure strength, Konno-chan should have a sure win..."

"It's hard to say." The president of the Virtual Research Club took out his phone, quickly opened a webpage to search, and then turned the screen to a member. "Look."

"Any good stuff...?" A club member leaned closer, suddenly raising his voice in disbelief, "National High School Girls' Fencing Champion?! Is this young lady that good?"

The president of the Virtual Research Club put away his phone and nodded: "And she'll probably be much stronger than we think. I sensed a powerful aura from her that Konno doesn't have... This time, she's probably up to no good."

During the conversation, the two imaginary figures were already looking at each other on the screen.

……

Imagine a world with an endless grassland.

Whether it's the feeling of the wind on your face, the feedback from kicking your heel into the soil, or even the sensations of breathing, smell, and taste, everything is perfectly recreated.

Stepping back into this world, Asuna Yuuki stretched her body slightly, but frowned in dissatisfaction.

"These random imaginary entities are really hard to get used to..."

Thankfully, I didn't choose the male imaginary form just because I thought it would be fun, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been able to unleash even 30% of my full potential... Games that are too realistic also have their drawbacks.

After making these remarks, she turned her gaze to the one-handed swordsman who had risen from the ground opposite her.

"Hello, I am the reigning champion, Konno."

Seemingly a bit introverted, he smiled shyly at her, saying little but with a very gentle and friendly demeanor: "Um, would you like me to explain how to play this game to you?"

“No need, I’m an old hand.” Controlling the unfamiliar virtual entity, Yuuki Asuna drew her rapier from her waist and casually slashed it a few times to the side. “I should be more familiar with this game than you. I just suddenly got itchy and came up to challenge you. Don’t worry too much about me.”

"Huh?" Konno was clearly taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Ah, you wouldn't happen to be Yuuki-nii's sister..."

"Yes. My name is Yuuki Asuna. Nice to meet you."

Asuna jumped up and down twice, then suddenly smiled at him: "Konno-kun, you're a girl, right? Don't you feel uncomfortable using a male imaginary body?"

"W-How did you know!?" Konno took two steps back in surprise, and even frantically looked down to check his surroundings, as if trying to find a flaw that would reveal his true gender.

Asuna Yuuki quickly reassured her, "It's just a personal feeling! How should I put it... the way she holds the sword and her movements are slightly different from a boy's. I guess only I can tell?"

"I see..." As if relieved, Konno slowly calmed down from her panic and explained in a low voice, "Well, in order to play games with my sister, the character I created in 'Sword World' is also male... Once you get used to it, it's fine, so you can see that I think it's amazing..."

"It's nothing, just experience," Asuna Yuuki laughed. "How about giving me a friend slot after we're done? We can fight it again using the original virtual form, that would be much more fun!"

“Okay…” Konno quietly withdrew his surprised gaze.

Even though her voice and eyes were gentle, why did she always feel that the person in front of her wasn't a young lady, but a battle maniac who longed to fight against strong opponents?

Hmm, it shouldn't be a misperception... After all, she said she only came online because she was itching to play, which proves that this person is not only a veteran PVP player, but also probably very strong.

Konno had only ever seen that kind of radiant, sun-like confidence in his younger sister.

“Ah…” Konno gripped the sword, looking at her tentatively, “Do you need some time to get used to the virtual entity?”

"No need, you'll get used to it after playing around with it for a while."

With a swipe of her right hand, Asuna Yuuki pulled up the game menu, seemingly not intending to talk much at all.

"Let's get started. How do we want to decide the outcome? Life or death, half health, or a single blow?"

"If they're all veterans, let's make it a fight to the death..." Konno drew her one-handed sword and let it hang at her side, pouting slightly, "Are they in such a hurry? This is the first time I've encountered someone so eager to start a fight..."

The two had already stood within the area where they were preparing for the duel, and Asuna Yuuki could hear her whispers clearly, so she couldn't help but smile apologetically.

"I'm sorry, but it's been a long time since I've met an opponent who can hold their own against me. I just heard your club president say that you're very strong, so I'm a little impatient."

"Ah, I... I didn't mean to blame you, I'm sorry!" Konno bowed repeatedly, rubbing his hands nervously in front of him.

Fortunately, the male imaginary body she used was of the delicate type; otherwise, the visual impact of a strong man acting like an introverted girl would be terrifying.

"And besides, I'm not very strong either, at least much weaker than my sister..."

"Really? That's something to look forward to."

Having noted this information down, Asuna Yuuki skillfully opened the duel request window and casually sent it over.

"I have things to do after this fight, so let's finish this quickly!"

"Ah, I understand..."

Konno clicked to accept, then picked up his one-handed longsword, spread his legs, and assumed a general-purpose skill preparation stance.

With few flaws, Asuna Yuuki nodded to herself. "Not very strong" was indeed just a humble way of putting it... At least this kind of demeanor was much better than her older brother, that self-proclaimed veteran player.

They are an opponent we must take seriously!

"Oh right, there are no restrictions on the use of skills in the arena. You can use the highest combo skill as long as you know how to use it," Konno suddenly remembered this and quickly reminded him.

"Oh, that's great!"

Asuna Yuuki smiled, gripped her rapier, and twisted her wrist as she prepared to unleash a basic thrust, slowly turning her body to the side.

"But if that's the case, it's not surprising that you can keep winning. The advantages of the virtual body, the advantage of skill proficiency, and the familiarity with the arena's competition mechanism... Let alone a newbie experiencing a virtual stealth game for the first time, even a regular beta tester probably wouldn't be able to beat you here, right?"

"Um..." Konno bit her lip, seemingly hesitant, but looked at her very seriously and said, "After all, you have to go all out in a competition. You have to use every trick in the book, and only the one who makes full use of all the conditions and wins can be called the winner..."

Asuna Yuuki smiled easily.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to blame you. On the contrary, I'm quite happy."

The huge countdown above her head was coming to an end, and she gripped the hilt of her sword with a light but firm grip, slowly raising the tip of the rapier, her upper body gradually lowering as if she were about to sprint.

"After all, it's only worth celebrating winning against an opponent like that."

"—!?"

As if locked by invisible sharp cones, the air brushing against my face turned into sharp blades.

Konno's pupils contracted sharply, and he subconsciously abandoned his conventional sword-wielding posture, adopting the full-force stance he used when fighting his sister.

A clenching pressure shot through my heart, as if my chest would be pierced if I were to lose focus for even a moment—but how could this be?!

Is the young lady of the Yuuki family on the other side really this strong...?

"So watch out, I won't hold back in order to become the winner!"

A countdown timer hangs above the two of them.

three……

two……

One.