Kaede had started NewWorld Online only because Risa asked her to. But her extreme
defense build had made her character, Maple, so tanky that she'd ranked third in the
first event and earned herself plenty of in-game fame.
The day before, the game's second event had taken place. She'd joined in, playing
alongside Risa's character, Sally. Maple's defense had carried the day again—they'd
reached their goal of ten silver medals each, and she'd exchanged those for two new
powerful skills.
The morning after…
Kaede sat up in bed.
"I didn't sleep much…"
According to her internal clock, it felt like a full week had come and gone since she'd
slept in that bed. It was harder than expected to drift off like usual.
Rubbing her eyes, she rolled out of bed, got ready, and headed to school.
"It's gonna be a scorcher…"
She moved as quickly as she could without breaking a sweat.
When she got to class, Risa was already there.
The two of them always arrived early, so they had the classroom to themselves.
"Mornin', Kaede."
"Mornin', Risa!"
Kaede dumped her things on her desk and then went over to where Risa sat.
"Feels like it's been ages since we last came to school!"
"Right? I mean, we did spend seven days in-game… Which reminds me, Kaede. You'll
need to be careful today."
"Huh? Of what?"
Kaede couldn't think of anything particularly concerning.
"In-game, we've always gotta be on the lookout for monsters or hostile players.
There's a risk you'll bring that habit into the real world."
Risa explained how easy it would be for Maple's and Sally's routines to spill over into
their regular, everyday lives.
"I've been playing awhile, though. Nothing like that's happened before."
"Yeah, it's more of a 'just in case.' This is the first time you've been logged in for a full
week, right?"
"True… All right! I'll be careful."
As they spoke, more classmates started arriving.
Five minutes before class started, the pair wrapped up their conversation, and Kaede
headed back to her own desk.
After school…
Kaede staggered into her room and immediately buried her face in her pillow,
screaming.
"Today never happened!"
However, her memories told a different story.
First bell…
"Zzz… zzz…"
Because of her restless night, Kaede was nodding off in class. Something she never
did.
Her seat was close to the windows and often bathed in sunlight. This proved to be
her undoing.
Moreover, people who don't normally fall asleep in class are all the more likely to
suddenly wake up.
(Incidentally, everyone had long since recognized Risa as someone who could nap
through anything.)
At the teacher's prompting, the girl next to Kaede gave her a poke.
"Mm… mm? Yawn… Is it my turn to keep watch?… Huh?"
Stretching as she spoke, she heard her voice echo in the classroom.
And everyone turned to stare.
By the time Kaede realized where she was, it was too late.
"I warned you," Risa whispered.
"Try to pay attention," the teacher said.
"R-right. Sorry."
That was only the first incident of many.
The next came during the break after third bell on her way back from the bathroom.
The halls were packed with students traveling to their next class.
And a girl walking behind Kaede happened to bump into someone trying to pass by.
She dropped her textbook and pencil case.
Both hit the ground with a loud clatter.
"...!"
Kaede immediately spun around, her left hand held high and her right reaching for
her waist, the same way she had practiced over and over after Risa taught her how.
If she'd been in-game, this would have been the ideal response.
But here at school, she had neither shield nor short sword.
"Huh? What the…?"
The girl behind her was stunned by Kaede's bizarre pose.
Kaede slowly let her arms fall, smiled awkwardly, and then quickly walked away.
By this point, her nerves were totally frayed.
Two very public blunders would do that to anyone.
Not wanting to screw up again, Kaede tried to keep a close watch on her every move.
But the third time's the charm.
The more you try not to mess up, the more likely it becomes.
After lunch, the class was playing dodgeball in the gym.
Kaede and Risa were on the same team.
That fact alone ensured their victory.
No matter how hard they tried, nobody could ever hit Risa.
Even when their opponents aimed all their shots at her, it wouldn't get them
anywhere.
Outside of the VRMMO, there was no compelling reason to pull off risky, last-second
evasions, so it was a breeze for Risa to dodge everything.
"She's incredible in this world, too…," Kaede muttered.
Of course, if she hadn't been so caught up watching Risa's performance, she might
have avoided her third horrible mistake.
"…Kaede!"
The enemy team had suddenly decided to aim at someone besides Risa, hoping they
might actually knock out a few people.
The ball was already hurtling toward Kaede…
She was much too focused on Risa to react in time.
When Risa yelled, Kaede looked toward the ball—and saw it coming right at her.
On any other day, she'd have ducked or jumped sideways.
But for the past week, she'd avoided projectiles in a very different manner.
"Cover Mo— Eaugh!"
She caught herself mid-yell and clapped her hands over her mouth… meaning she
could neither dodge the ball nor catch it.
And hits to the face still counted.
"Kaede?! You okay?!"
"I'm fine…"
From Kaede's perspective, as long as no one was paying any attention to what she
had been about to shout, then she'd live.
The silver lining was that she and Risa were the only ones in class who played
NewWorld Online, so apparently, nobody recognized the phrase.
"I'm gonna rest over there…"
"Good idea."
Kaede slumped against the wall, her head on her knees.
That was her final lapse in judgment.
"…Maybe I should take a break from the game."
Just to be safe, she decided to not log in at all for three whole days.
Whether because of her ban on gaming or perhaps through sheer force of will, by the
third day, Kaede finally stopped having accidents.