Episode 2 Girls online

"Beacon".

　The distinctive sound of the line struck my earlobe, which was asleep.

Dazed and dazed, he reaches for his phone, which is probably at his bedside, yawns and checks its contents.

The sender was from Yuki.

"Can I call you?"

I'm sure he's worried about my confession.

At any rate, I remembered that I had slept in the jersey I borrowed from Koya, and I thought I'd change before I called.

"Wait a minute."

When I replied, I noticed something strange.

It is strangely difficult to type a reply.

　To be precise, the phone is too big and it's hard to tap with only one hand's fingers. No, I can't.

Yeah?

And this is where the surprises began.

In my haste to stand up, I stepped on the hem of my trousers and fell off the bed in a big heap.

I managed to stand up, my head hitting the floor and frowning at the dull pain.

That's it!

The size of the clothes I wear is too big for some reason.

Even if you fully extend your arm, you have to roll up your sleeve to get your hand.

I must have been 5'9" but my perspective was a few inches lower than usual.

"What?"

And even more uncomfortable.

My voice, which I uttered casually, was high. It was a clear tone, like a rolled bell, and the voice was clear.

"What"

I can't believe I did that.

However, the next sound that came out of the turmoil was definitely my voice, even though the timing was wrong.

"Uh, yeah, ............?"

After a few vocalisations and some analysis, it seems that the young voice, which is the equivalent of a middle school student, vibrates through my throat.

I spread my hands out to look over my overstuffed uniform and take a good look at my body once again.

Then the most interesting thing was the hair that was hanging down from either side of her face.

Her hair is so long that it reaches her waist. And silver hair with a subtle blue tinge.

I roll up my sleeves, manage to pick up a bunch and stare at it in front of my eyes.

The hair was so fine and fluffy that it could not have been made by an artificial hair.

I felt sick and hurriedly let go of my hair.

"What the hell is this: ......"

A shrunken physique. A voice like a girl's. Long hair that I don't remember.

If you have come this far, what has happened to you?

　Even the dullest of people can tell.

It's understandable, but it's a fantasy.

　There is no way I can be convinced.

A case of unexplained gender reassignment reported in the news.

There has been a lot of talk recently about boys and girls who suddenly change their gender.

However, the general feeling is that what is being reported on the other side of the news has nothing to do with me. It's like watching a celebrity gossip, it's just something else.

So, what is happening to me is a dream.

Yeah.

　I recognise that I'm thinking out of context, but this is a fantasy.

I can't, I can't look like this.

It's just a dream.

I must be having a weird dream due to the shock of the confession.

I tried to pinch her cheek, but her sleeves were too long for me.

I have to roll it.

No, wait, I don't trust my sense of pain, or my sense of touch.

　I just fell out of bed and felt pain.

The wear and tear and the weight of the jersey are unmistakably real.

...... Style.

Calm down.

My hearing is no better. It's strange that my voice sounds like a girl's, but I'm picking up the sounds around me.

Then there's the sense of smell.

　I put my nose close to the clothes, mainly the jersey I borrowed from Koyo, and sniff.

............"

　What can I say, it's a bit sweaty.

It's summer. It's early summer, so what can you do?

Then there's this pale blue silver hair, which is also different.

Take more than the amount you just pinched and sniff it.

A rustling .......

　I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not, but it's a good thing.

Wishy-washy, wishy-washy, wishy-washy, wishy-washy.

"Heh, heh, heh!　Woohoo!"

The tips of the bristles were too fluffy and irritated my nostrils just enough to make me sneeze.

This is not good.

　The senses of hearing, touch and even smell insist that this is reality. ......

No, it's not too early to assume.

All that remains is taste.

　The only thing left to taste is the nutritional food, CalorieMate, which he pours into his mouth.

Although my mouth was a little dry from sleep, I chewed it and found that it tasted just the same as usual.

"Is ...... really that bad?"

The last of the senses.

　The last resort is sight.

I put my hands on my cheeks.

　But if I see this face...

The fear that I'm not me anymore makes me hesitate to do a final check.

How many hours have gone by?

I didn't drink anything and sat in bed in a daze.

I suddenly notice my phone flashing, and tap it lightly.

Yuki Yuuki sent me an additional message asking if I've made a call yet.　I got an additional message from Yuki asking if I could make a call yet, so I told him that I couldn't right now.

After all, it's a girl's voice.

　I don't feel like doing anything until I calm down.

I also received a message from my other best friend Kouya.

'Clan Clan starts tomorrow, but you'll be there, won't you?

It's a VRMMO, or virtual online game, that we've been talking about doing together since the summer holidays, and we've just been informed that the service will be launched tomorrow.

VRMMO is an experiential 3D online game.

　It is the latest game that gives you the feeling that you are actually in the game world and moving your body.

It's not a big title, and I hadn't heard of the game company Kaguya, so I wasn't expecting much, but the fact that the production and sales have been outsourced to a major game maker has caused a bit of a stir.

Absolutely not.

He worries about us with  Yuki and encourages us to change our mood with Kouya.

I am grateful to them for their thoughtfulness, but I scold myself that I am getting tired of letting things go on without any progress.

I prepare myself and pick up the hand mirror from the high desk.

I force down my trembling hand by sheer force of will and swallow my nervous gulp.

"Gokri......"

I then looked at my own face.

There it is.

The face of a beautiful, white, silver-haired girl, who looked like she belonged in Scandinavia, looked surprised.

"Oh, I can't possibly be a ...... beautiful girl ......."

----

----

　The current time is 10 o'clock in the evening.

As the end of the school day was around 11am, we can assume that I arrived home around 2pm, which means that I woke up around 7pm and started my journey of checking my body.

Since then, as a girl, I have checked every inch of myself.

Unfortunately, it was a girl. Probably, without a doubt.

　And I was able to determine that she was between 9 and 11 years old, in the third and fifth grades.

I also measured myself and I was only 135cm tall.

Seriously, ......."

Her skin is as white and smooth as china, and her eyes are sapphire blue. Her long, silvery eyelashes accentuate her large eyes, and her nose is high. Her lips are rose-pink and well-shaped, with a slightly rounded outline due to her young age.

I have to admit, she looked like an unmistakable angel.

The decisive factor is her sky-blue silver hair, which shines brightly, reflecting even the electric lights in the room.

It was me, the most beautiful girl.

I didn't know if I should call the city hall, the police, my parents, or my sister.

My parents are both working and on business trips abroad. My younger sister follows her mother and father around the world. My older sister is in Japan, but she started to live by herself when she went to university, and she is doing a good job while going to school.

That's why I'm living alone in this flat.

I am very grateful for the freedom, but I have to do all the housework, cooking and laundry on my own, which can be rather difficult.

We also don't know what to do when a situation like this happens.

"Should I still contact my sister ......?"

However, she has a rather busy life and is a member of .......

Is this the City Hall in order?

As I was hesitating, I received a notification message from my sister on line at the right moment.

"Tomorrow at 11am in front of the church of Michelangelo, the Pioneer City.

I turned away from my phone when I received a radio message.

I don't mean to patronise my family, but my sister is a beautiful woman, that's no exaggeration. But sometimes she says things that are beyond my understanding. And she is also scary.

It's kind of a pain to think about things, starting with the unintelligible line from my sister.

It has been a really tiring day.

Mentally and physically exhausted, it did not take me long to come to this conclusion.

We'll think about what to do tomorrow.

Once I thought that, I acted quickly.

After a quick snack, I went to the toilet in an unaccustomed motion. ......

I went back to sleep.

.......

　.............

　Oh, I forgot to wipe it off.

I won't say where.

It's going to take me a while to get used to my body.

I let out a small sigh and went back to the toilet feeling sad.

----

----

　The morning after.

　The first day of the summer holidays.

After taking my first shower, I drank a bottle of milk in a bath towel.

"Pfft."

After all, milk tastes better first thing in the morning!

Afterwards, I made my own honey toast, my favorite, and served it with a fried egg for breakfast. Just as I was about to go to the city hall to ask for advice on what to do, Yuki and Kouya contacted me on our shared line group.

"Be sure to come in and meet me at 1pm in front of the Clock Tower in the Pioneer City of Michelangelo."

Pioneer City Michelangelo......?

Oh, .......

...... Yesterday, my sister told me that the pioneer city of Michelangelo was the town of Clan Clan, a VRMMO online game?

It seems that  Yuki and Kouya have been playing this game since the beta test, and they must have enjoyed it a lot, because it was only the other day that they started to push me hard. It wasn't unusual for the bespectacled Koya to be enthusiastic about games, anime and manga, but I was surprised when even Yuki joined in and recommended it to me.

Or rather, my sister. You've been doing it too, the Klan Klan.

"Let's have fun and have a heart-to-heart party!

I received such a message from Yuki Yubuki, so I immediately sent him a message

"You just want to play games with me."

I'm going to keep it light, like that.

'This time, I'm being honest, not pretentious.'

I got a reply from  Kouya saying

'I know, thank you ......'

I feel embarrassed, so I make a sentence that can be conveyed in one word.

　I also felt a bit embarrassed, but that's OK.

I throw my phone on the bed and think of their faces.

Un confession. That's the most punchy way I've ever heard to confess. Can we laugh about it like that?

After that, I'll hold off on telling them about the rumoured sex change for now. I don't want to worry them any more than I already have, but I also don't know what this is all about. I don't know if there's any precedent for the body coming back.

　I have a heavy fear.

It's really not a funny joke.

　I don't have time to mourn the failure of my confession, I don't have time for heartbreak.

I remember Yuki's words yesterday.

　We are friends.

　But is that something I can say even when I look like this?

I force my thoughts to turn to the clan and the clan to push aside the anxiety that is rising in me one after another.

I'm sure the two of us playing with them will be a great distraction.

----

----

　The time is 9.30am. The official Clan Clan service starts at ten o'clock, so after hanging up the laundry I open the Clan Clan I've bought in advance.

The box containing the software was less than 15cm in diameter.

What came out of it?

Six pairs of contact lenses in different sizes.

　And a slightly bulky USB flash drive and earphones.

　And only a folded instruction manual.

"Oh."

　That's it.

Yes, that's one of the topics.

Existing VRMMOs are usually played with headgear that covers your face and head, but Clan Clan is different.

It is the same as other VRMMOs in that it responds to your brainwaves and gives you the feeling that you are directly inside the game, but the crucial difference is that once you get used to it, you can live a normal life in the real world while playing the game.

How is it possible to have your brain telling you to move your body in the game world, but at the same time make it do something else in the real world?

I had heard the details of this from Koya Koya, but it was not so easy to believe.

　According to Koya, this contact lens, which is less than one centimeter in diameter, is the culmination of human technology.

　I've never played an online game before, so Koya was unusually excited and said, "This is a revolution in the game world! This is a revolution in the gaming world!

Well, with less than 30 minutes to go before the Clan Clan service starts, seeing is believing.

Set up the game and make your own character.

The first step is to connect the USB flash drive to your smartphone using the special terminal, download and install the game.

The general consensus is that these online games are quite large, but Clan Clan seems to be an exception. The total amount of data was comparable to that of an app game.

Next, put earphones in each ear and contact lenses.

It took me a while to put on the contacts, which I was not used to, but I managed to do it.

All you have to do is launch the game from your smartphone.

I tap on the Clan Clan, trying to control the excitement in my chest.

You can then go to ----.

Welcome to the Clan Clan, a world where humans and demons mingle and fight each other without regard for others.

A mechanical woman's announcement rang in both ears.

　I was floating in the air, in total darkness, reminiscent of a microcosm.

This is the Clan Clan.

Through the medium of tiny contacts, they are indirectly linked to the nerves of the human brain and allow the user to experience the sensations in the game.

I tried to move my right arm. Just as I had imagined, my right arm swung up and down, not so different from how it feels in reality.

In reality, I'm sitting on my bed and my right arm isn't moving.

Inside the contact lens is an infinite jet-black space, a landscape of light spots of various sizes floating before your eyes.

Over the contact is a plain room.

It's not something that can be described in one word: amazing.

In the first place, being able to play a VR MMO while also being able to clearly identify yourself in the real world is a completely new experience.

It's no wonder  Koya makes such a fuss.

The feeling of being in two worlds at once is indescribable.

Oh, come on, it's a fantasy.

How is it possible to implant something so powerful inside such a tiny contact lens? Interfere with your brain waves and take you to a 3D world?

　Is this how far human science has come?

Originally, it was said that a human being was in a state where most of the functions of the brain were not being used, and that the rate of activity was less than 10%. These days, there is a strong belief that this is not the case and that we are using our brains at 100% full capacity. However, the experience of the Klan Klan is a real one.

No wonder the rumours say that it has succeeded in increasing the activity range of the human brain by 20%. We are convinced that this is the kind of game that will shock you into believing such a dream.

While I was enjoying my levitation, an announcement resumed the tutorial.

"Confirmation that the mutual recognition of the Clan and the Clan here and the reality there has been successfully linked. The senses are responding well."

"Ha, ha. ......"

'Voice recognition confirmed to be working. Are you ready to move on to character creation?

Apparently, even vocalisations can be converted from the brain to the game and recognized.

It doesn't seem to be a game of chat-style communication.

"Oh, yes."

As soon as I had given my approval, the AI-programmed voice-only navigation system began to explain.

"We scan and authenticate your appearance data in the real world."

For a few seconds, a blue-white effect flickered over my body, and then the light quietly faded away.

"The scan is finished. The skeleton and the standard of the character can be changed up to 5 cm from the real size. You can only create a character of the same gender as in real life. The appearance and other parts of the character can be changed in any way you wish. Please call us when you have finished creating your character."

If the difference in the scale of body size between the real world and the in-game character is too large, there will be too much of a sensory difference when you log out of the game, which will interfere with your physical movement in reality.

You can change your appearance, but you can't disguise your gender or frame.

Apparently, my character's current appearance is the same as that of a very beautiful girl in real life.

　This is where I start to tweak things.

I stared at the large number of customisation options and was amazed by the variety.

There are over 200 different types of eyes alone. The same goes for the colours.

There was so much to choose from in terms of waist, hips and even bust tweaking, as well as facial options and parts, that it was hard not to feel a little fed up.

　The only thing I found normal was the variety of hair colours. You can't select a colour close to white, and at a glance, there were about thirty types.

After a few minutes of looking at the various items, I realised that I had a big problem.

I'm a little girl now.

This means that the character creation also remains a little girl.

Oh my God. .......

No gender reassignment \= If you meet someone in the clan who has changed their gender to  Yuki or Kouya, it will be obvious.

I think I can do it. Maybe.

I've heard that there are many bugs and inconveniences in the beginning of online games. Akiya called it a festival, and I also called it a festival, so I decided to push it through.

　I decided to do so, and I lightly customized certain parts of the game, but left the appearance as it was in real life.

To be honest, I found the character creation process to be sluggish, as I had to go through a huge amount of customisation options one by one to create my character.

"Character creation is over."

Based on my cue, the navigation voice answers again.

"I'm sorry. No real world errors, except in the chest ・・・・. It's clear."

Good."

I felt a little uncomfortable at the suggestion of navigation, but tried not to let it bother me. Yes, I was trying to be a little more flattering about my breasts.

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have a flat chest, but I've tried to make it a little more uneven.

'The current time is 10:03 am. Would you like to log in?"

Finally, the official launch of the service?

My appointment with my sister was at 11am, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to log on and get used to it first.

"Yes, I'll log in."

"Enjoy the world of Tsukinotea, the Clan of Gods and Clans. You are a mercenary soldier wandering through this vast world, organising mercenary groups, forming armies, founding nations, seeking the treasures left behind by the Dragon Clan, and challenging the Gods."

After a long and tedious day, navigation is now a matter of choice.

"You are free."

He left us with these last words

As if on cue, my vision was engulfed in a whirlpool of light.

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