episode_0030

Sato Yuna.

Encountering my female friend who has been possessed by the strongest character ‘Power Hiding’ in the Academy, I was taken aback.

“All the characters up until now looked exactly like their illustrations…?”

The reason I could recognize the characters in the work at a glance.

It was because all the illustrations were identical.

They were character illustrations produced by the game company.

Illustrations provided by the novel world.

Everything matched, from the appearance of the characters that appeared right in front of me to their facial features, characteristics, and even the smallest details.

However, for the first time, a character appeared who looked quite different from what I knew.

“Sato Yuna is supposed to have a colder, more composed impression…”

The current Sato Yuna looked very different from the original Sato Yuna.

“Im Yuna.”

She resembled my childhood friend more.

There were two characters in the novel who were possessed, including myself.

One was “Lilith.”

And the other was “Sato Yuna.”

But why didn’t my ex-girlfriend’s appearance come to mind in Lilith’s case, yet only my female friend’s appearance came to mind in the case of “Sato Yuna”?

To find answers to my questions, I examined Yuna’s status window.

And immediately, I found the answer.

+ + +

[Sato Yuna] Ability Information

○ Style: Apostle of Messages (★☆☆☆☆☆)

○ Comprehensive Stats: [Stamina Lv.36], [Strength Lv.25], [Agility Lv.33], [Magic Lv.19]

○ Immutable Stats: [Internal Energy Lv.7], [Mental Lv.10], [Art Lv.3], [Life Lv.6],

[Appearance Lv.8]

※ The possessed individual’s appearance meets the current standard. Therefore, the appearance is influenced by the possessed individual’s original appearance.

+ + +

“Oh, I see…”

Although this game is a mobile game, it can also be accessed through a PC version as a dating simulation game.

Moreover, it was possible to implement graphics through “augmented reality.”

“When customizing the protagonist’s appearance, it was also possible to scan and upload one’s real-life appearance.”

“Unlike my ex-girlfriend, did Im Yuna accidentally customize her appearance based on her real-life looks for the game character?”

Does that mean Im Yuna’s current appearance is much better than Lilith’s current appearance?

In other words, if exceptionally beautiful individuals like celebrities from real life were to be possessed in another world…

It would be possible to reflect their appearance directly onto the characters.

“Hmm, Yuna was indeed quite pretty. There were many guys asking for introductions.”

However, I have never viewed Yuna as a romantic interest.

The first reason being our friendship.

Yuna and I have been friends since kindergarten, having grown up together for a long time.

Starting a relationship with a friend and then breaking up can cause emotional wounds for anyone.

I don’t want to think about making it difficult to maintain a friendship with Yuna.

“Without a girlfriend, I wouldn’t feel lonely, but it might be a bit lonely without you in my life, Yuna…”

Secondly, it’s because of the cute image and the reliable “female warrior” image that we’ve built together since childhood.

Expectations and disappointments deepen during a relationship.

Expectations revolve around sexual temptations and sexy images.

However, since Yuna is only familiar with cute and friendly images, she cannot fulfill such sexual expectations.

The same goes for feelings of disappointment.

Relationships between men and women are said to become closer through fighting and reconciling.

I’ve already experienced enough emotional disappointments to last a lifetime.

So.

Yuna was possessed as a lovely character in the game.

When we met before, even if you looked much prettier than last time.

My heart only beat a little faster. I don’t feel any emotional sway.

Maybe Yuna feels the same way?

Right now, I’ve been possessed by what seems like the ugliest character in this game.

But Yuna murmured softly.

“You look alike.”

“W-What?!”

Surely she doesn’t mean we look alike in appearance?

Ugh, if that’s the case, please cancel it. I intentionally set my appearance to 1 for maximum survival probability!

Yuna soon blushed as if embarrassed and couldn’t meet my eyes properly.

“Oh, no… But are you really the character ‘Lucius’?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then, hello? My name is Sato Yuna.”

Asking for my name out of the blue confirms she knows who I am.

But one thing puzzled me.

Asking about the name “Lucius,” is she looking for the protagonist…?

However.

Wasn’t Lucius the name of the dog raised by Arisha von Stein?

‘Why does she recognize Lucius as the protagonist’s name?’

I remember encountering her in an alley before.

A female Japanese fan user, ‘Yui Gahama,’ recognized not only my username but also my ‘BJ name’ as ‘Lucius.’

Actually, my former BJ name was…

Damn it!

Once again, it feels like a fog has clouded my mind. I can’t remember.

At that moment, Yuna asked me.

It feels like she used to ask me such questions when we first met in kindergarten.

Back then, I thought Yuna was a lively girl.

“Do you like playing with balls or something?”

“Uh… I do.”

“Great. Then let’s play volleyball or something together sometimes~”

Yuna smiled warmly and reached out her hand to me.

Taking her hand, I replied softly because I still doubted whether it was a good thing for Yuna to be possessed by this character.

“Sure…”

“Would you like to do it now? I have the ball ready!”

“Uh… Isn’t it time to finish class now?”

“Oh! Right. Let’s do it after class.”

#

After classes at the academy, nearing dinnertime.

Yuna somehow found her way to our classroom.

“Phew, it would be nice to have a smartphone or something… Smartphones are too expensive in this world. Oh, no. I mean…”

Yuna seemed embarrassed after using the term ‘this world’ for the game character.

“It just seems like smartphones are too expensive here.”

Smiling at Yuna, I handed her a smartphone.

In fact, the smartphone I intended to give her.

Smartphones are as expensive as sports cars in this world. Therefore, there are long-term rental and leasing services available.

The von Stein family almost monopolizes such smartphone rental services within the country.

I asked Arisha for a favor, and since we were close, she readily agreed to my request.

She had already provided smartphones free of charge to my younger sister Choa and my classmate Ryona.

Asking for one more wasn’t difficult for Yuna.

“Wow, can I really accept this?”

“I’m just lending it to you. If it breaks… deal with it yourself.”

“Got it, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yuna tensed up upon hearing the word ‘rental.’

Still, she seemed pleased, smiling brightly and gently grabbing the hem of my shirt while giving a slight bow.

Unexpectedly kind. Seeing her so friendly, could she have passed the stewardess exam…?

“If anything bad, strange, or dangerous happens, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

Yuna answered with a smile, her mouth curving up like a friendly stewardess until the very end.

“Yes.”

Soon, upon arriving at the futsal court, we began passing the ball back and forth across a net.

Thwack! Thud! Thud!

However, the futsal ball we exchanged flew through the air swiftly, cutting through the wind like shots from top-tier soccer players due to the characters’ strength and agility stats in the game surpassing reality by far.

“This is fun…?!”

“I feel the same. Hehe.”

We hadn’t expected futsal in this world to be this enjoyable.

We engaged in a splendid match without holding back, akin to the showdown between the football god MeX and Xaldoo appearing in a CF commercial.

Of course, even with Yuna’s absurdly boosted stats…

It was impossible to surpass her with my A-grade combat skills localized and rememorized from hurdle stages, unleashed during our futsal match.

“Phew….”

After catching our breath, we collapsed on the ground.

“That was epic, Yuna.”

“Haha… You were amazing too. But strive harder! Shouldn’t the leader of the men’s team defeat a girl? Hahaha!”

“….”

Perhaps she failed the personality test dozens of times?

She seemed more like a tomboy than a stewardess upon closer inspection.

As we enjoyed our reunion through the futsal match, I pondered her uncharacteristic hobbies.

Starting from hobbies like soccer, basketball, baseball, futsal, tennis…

Yuna was also into hip-hop, FPS games, possessed decent singing and dancing skills.

Many friends speculated she could become an outstanding idol singer or actress.

‘So, why couldn’t I see her as a girl?’

Despite fiercely competing, every showdown with Yuna always ended in a draw.

But today, I lost.

Because she possessed a 6-star character fusion…

I admitted defeat.

“Yeah, you brute with only strength… I lost. I admit it.”

“Hehe, what’s your hero grade? I’m F-grade… If you’re okay with it, would you like to have a meal together?”

Yes, currently, Yuna held the lowest F-grade in the academy despite her deceptive stats and 6-star potential.

‘Probably due to the Apostle attribute of the message.’

With a gaze that seemed to worry about how low the defeated F-grade individual might be, Yuna extended a sympathetic look as if offering even a piece of bread.

I chuckled and replied, “S-grade.”

That was my current rank in the academy.

===================

▼ After the futsal match, Yuna sits down for a chat with the protagonist…!!