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Kotonashi Takeru is a pervert.
Kotonashi Takeru is a loner.
Kotonashi Takeru has no friends.
The girls had always looked at him with disgusted expressions, the boys had always either wanted no connection with him or kicked him in the stomach behind the school until he coughed up blood, grasping for some resemblance of hope that he wouldn't end up puking in the toilet after school, that he wouldn't ponder whether or not to end all the pain he was enduring, that he wouldn't think about the death of his sister, or his parents' divorce, all for the sake of avoiding that empty void inside his heart that was latched onto him like teeth sinking into his flesh, tearing through his bones and into his chest.
He was the student in the corner of the class, sitting on the corner of his seat, lingering on the edge of his heart as he cried silently in his subconscious... except that's all bull.
Truthfully, Takeru's life was all he'd ever wanted.
As long as he had his computer, his internet, and his twisted world of online games, he could deal with any kind of social vice.
Even if his few days of school he'd attended were hell and filled with an anxiety too much to bear, he could look forward to meeting with his online friends, clearing dungeons with ease and relying on his max-level friends to get all the rare items he could ever need.
In the world of online games, Takeru was as popular as he could be.
Why?
Well, all he had to do was select Female.
A breeze came rushing in through the window and a smooth wave of particles brushed against Takeru's arm as the gray atmosphere of the outside world seemed to trickle into his room.
There was something about that day that scared him.
He should have been happy—overjoyed, even—but there was a nagging glitch in the back of his mind—a bug, in video game terms—both mentally... and literally.
Takeru had been waiting for this day for over two years, and although he was disappointed when he didn't make the beta-testing, he had somehow snatched a copy of the official release from the nearest store after standing in line for over twelve hours.
Granted, he may have cheated a bit, weaving his way through the crowd, dodging armpits and elbows with his abnormally small height, he was still able to obtain the Nerve Gear after heroically pummeling a man in his thirties and snatching the Nerve Gear from his hands, despite himself.
As soon as he had thrown his wallet at the store employee, he stashed the Nerve Gear under his jacket, ran out of the angry crowd, hiding the five-hundred thousand yen product, and darted away.
No one had stopped him—not because he successfully hid the Nerve Gear (anyone would notice someone hunched over a big box, high-tailing his ass out of the warzone)—but because there was an unspoken rule that you were never to stop or steal from another person who had obtained the rare item, which was apparently a rule that Takeru did not care for.
He'd laughed wholeheartedly and maniacally as he dashed home as fast as he could, wary of any individual that merely glanced at him as he crossed the streets of Tokyo.
As he reached his apartment building, Takeru relished the blinding, bright feeling in his heart as he slowly realized the extent of his luck.
He had attained one of the ten thousand copies of the Nerve Gear and its first full on MMO: Sword Art Online.
With this, he could experience the real MMORPG experience.
He could go questing, experiencing the beauty of a fantastical world, marveling at the grand picture of floating islands, massive structures of magical buildings, and giant creatures of mythical origins, dungeoning in the dark, mysterious caverns of catacombs, except for the simple fact that he didn't give a damn about any of that.
In a heightened jump of glory stemming from the fantasies of a pervert, Takeru flew up the stairs around the edge of his apartment complex and screamed in his head with a vulgar little voice, Now I can finally be a girl!
Takeru anxiously waited for the clock to hit 10:00.
He sat on his bed with the Nerve Gear in his lap, watching the digital clock as it ticked... one second at a time.
The servers were finally going to come online, and with the entire world watching the very first virtual reality MMO become a reality, Takeru felt nervous.
The glitch had begun to spread into the deeper parts of his mind, and he still couldn't find the reason for this reluctance to accepting joy.
Was he afraid of the new technology?
Did he feel guilty about the pre-made female character that he'd created in preparation for the game?
Was he simply nervous and excited for the launch?
None of these questions had an answer, and not a single part of Takeru felt secure.
He sighed.
Another five minutes.
I can't wait.
I can't wait.
I just cannot wait.
He tried to convince himself of his own excitement, and it actually began to work.
After all, he was about to experience what it was like to be, feel, and look like a girl… right?
He began to think.
You will be Yumari, the cute celestial mystic that likes to hang out with anyone and always makes clumsy mistakes.
You will be Yumari, the short, blonde-haired girl with small pigtails and a messy smile.
Takeru smiled.
You should be Yumari, and there is nothing wrong with that.
His phone buzzed.
He picked it up and peered into the digital screen.
A new LINE message had popped up.
He tapped the notification and read the message.
"I'm sorry about what happened. I'll come by and apologize later today. Do you think you could come to school again?"
It was from Natsumi.
Takeru clutched his phone and gritted his teeth.
Apologize?
No.
He wasn't going to take an apology after what she had done.
No, he was done with the real world.
He was tired of all of it.
He was going to enter a better world today.
The glitch hid itself, and Takeru's nerves melted away.
The clock hit 10:00 and the boy placed the future on his head.
…
Link start!
Thanks for reading! Still working on that cover art. I got an entire story planned, so stay tuned.