Ayuna realized she had been transmigrated with a dating sim system. What did that imply? Did some mischievous god play a prank on her?

 

In her past life as Eric, he’d played dating sims before and had enjoyed them a great deal. He’d had girlfriends in school, but those were mostly puppy love. He had loved them, of course, and had loved their company, but that was it. He was still too young to understand anything beyond that.

 

But when he grew older, he started becoming more serious about relationships, and thus prolonged finding a girlfriend with the intention of waiting for the right one. It was a naive way of thinking, he knew, but he had valued that belief of his.

 

Actually, he’d enjoyed his life a lot—staying at home, playing games, watching anime, and reading novels. Yep, he was a complete NEET, though one who’s fortunate enough to be born into a rich family.

 

He’d spent a lot of his parents’ money on the dating sim games and had since become a complete addict. Forget about real life women, the 2D girls on screen were much better! he’d once said to himself.

 

But, what if one day he was able to live in the dating sim games for real? In the games full of cute girls and the advantage of the system helping him out in the background. That would be a dream come true!

 

And yes, his dream had come true. 

 

Eric—now Ayuna—continued staring at the pink translucent system screen in front of her, her heart beating rapidly. 

 

It was a dating sim system. She had been transmigrated with a dating sim system. Her dream had come true. Her wish had been gran—

 

“Ayuna?” a voice came with a shake on her shoulder.

 

Ayuna snapped back to reality. 

 

Liana looked at her worriedly, her hand still on Ayuna’s shoulder. “Are you really alright? You’ve been spacing out a lot of times already… Maybe…” She placed her palm on Ayuna’s forehead.

 

Ayuna realized that Liana might have thought something was wrong with her head. Well, it made sense to think that way. She’d claimed she’d lost her memory after all. It made sense to think that her head might have received some concussion.

 

Ayuna caught Liana’s hand on her forehead. “I’m okay, Liana. Just feeling kind of dizzy is all.”

 

Liana grasped Ayuna’s hand and looked at her in concern. “I don’t know to what extent you have lost your memory. I’ll check up on you later. For now, we need to get out of here. This forest is full of dangerous monsters.”

 

Dangerous monster… the two words echoed in Ayuna’s head, a sense of fear creeping into her heart slightly.

 

Liana noticed this and gently squeezed Ayuna’s hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” She stuck out her chest and bumped a fist on her blooming blossom. With a beaming smile, she said, “I might not look it, but I’m pretty strong, you know?”

 

“You are?” Ayuna asked, tilting her head innocently.

 

[+ 15 AP]

 

Seeing such a cute gesture, Liana blushed and went into a daze again. 

 

Ayuna saw this and stifled a smile. She started to get an idea of how this system worked now.

 

But she still wondered, was her appearance that good to make Liana blushing and going into a daze just from seeing her smile and cute gesture? 

 

Well, she ought to find out…

 

———

 

In her past life, when he was young, his mom had once told him to never follow strangers no matter what. Eric had heeded her warning well and had never gotten into any trouble with the stranger. He’d always been cautious.

 

Well, not today…

 

Ayuna followed after Liana as she walked through the forest. Liana seemed like a nice person so she wasn’t really cautious around her. (Well, mostly because she’s a beautiful cat-woman, but nobody needs to know that~)

 

So far, there was nothing extraordinary or fantastical about this forest at all. Ayuna felt slightly disappointed, though she knew that this might be for the best.

 

From what Liana had said, this forest was full of dangerous monsters. She actually wanted to see them, but she suppressed her desire for now due to fear of dangers. She’d just discovered that she was reincarnated with a dating sim system, but she didn’t know how it could help her in terms of combat. If this world had monsters, then in order to survive and well, she needed to get stronger—just like those isekai protagonists.

 

But, what would her fighting style be? 

 

She closed her eyes and imagined a cool-looking warrior woman holding a sword. Her swordsmanship and melee combat skills were dashing. It was so cool!

 

But, fighting in close combat could become dangerous if she were to face a much stronger monster. Then maybe, an archer would be nice.

 

She imagined a beautiful elf girl with an impressive-looking bow pulling back a string, aiming an arrow. Then the arrow shot out in great velocity, striking her enemy! That was pretty cool as well.

 

But… she was now in a fantasy world. That meant there was magic, right?

 

She imagined a sexy-looking milf in a form-fitting attire, a purple robe, and a pointed hat. She raised her magical staff and cast a spell. A magical light danced on top of her staff embedded with beautiful crystal. Then, shoot! Boom!!!! Bam!!! Shwam!!! POW! POW! POW!

 

Visualizing this spectacular scene of destruction caused by grand magic, she couldn’t help but smile…

 

“Liana,” she said. “Is there magic in this world?”

 

Liana, walking in front of Ayuna, stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. Her eyes were wide in surprise as if she’d seen a ghost.

 

“W-What do you mean?” she asked.

 

Ayuna noticed something was wrong with Liana’s expression. Why was she so surprised? Was magic a bad word in this world?

 

Ayuna became more cautious and repeated her question slowly, “I was just wondering. Is there magic in this world?”

 

Once again, Liana looked surprised. She went into silence for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. After a while, she snapped back to reality.

 

“How do you know about magic?” Liana asked.

 

“Well, I just recalled it in the fragments of my memory.” Ayuna replied.

 

Well, she wasn’t lying. She really recalled it from the memories of watching movies and playing video games in her past life.

 

“From the fragment… of your memory…?” Liana said dazedly. She went back into her thoughts again.

 

Ayuna was now very confused. Why did Liana react that way? Was magic really a big deal in this world? Maybe, she’d just said something she shouldn’t have…

 

Just when Ayuna started to regret her carelessness, Liana finally snapped back to reality. 

 

“Well, yes,” she said. “Indeed. There is magic in this world.”

 

There is magic in this world… The words echoed in her head.

 

Ayuna’s eyes began to sparkle. So there was magic in this world after all! She felt so excited. Her heart started beating fast.

 

Though, setting the magic aside, there was something else bugging her. 

 

“But, why did you look so surprised just now? Is magic something bad?” she asked, suppressing her excitement.

 

Liana looked at Ayuna dazedly for a while as if didn’t know what to say. She then smiled faintly and shook her head. “No. Magic is not a bad thing…. Yes, it’s not…”

 

She whispered that last sentence. Ayuna couldn’t hear what she said, though her mind was now full of expectations. If this world really had magic then… maybe… she too could…

 

“Let’s go, Ayuna. We have to hurry,” Liana urged.

 

Ayuna nodded and continued walking. 

 

“Liana. You said this forest is full of dangerous monsters, right?” Ayuna asked. “Then what were you doing here in such a dangerous place?”

 

“I was out collecting something for my work,” Liana said.

 

“Work? What kind of work?”

 

“Just some medicinal stuff.”

 

“So, you’re a healer of some kind?”

 

Liana turned to look at Ayuna with a slight smirk. “You sure know a lot of things for someone who's lost her memory.”

 

“I don’t know. Something I know, something I don’t. It’s all fuzzy in my head,” Ayuna said, tilting her head.

 

Liana nodded. “I see.”

 

Actually, Ayuna’s heart almost jumped when Liana had asked her that with a smirk.

 

Was she suspicious of her? That would be really bad. Liana seemed like a good woman, she really wanted to get to know her better, but… she couldn’t tell her the truth. The truth was beyond absurd, she wouldn’t dare to think of Liana’s reaction once she heard it.

 

A rustling came from the brush up ahead. Liana suddenly stopped and looked in that direction, then went in front of Ayuna with her guards up, covering her.

 

“Ayuna. Stay right behind me.” She quickly drew out a pair of daggers from her belt. It made a satisfying metallic sound like when a sword was drawn from its scabbard.

 

The brush up ahead made a rustling noise again, followed by a menacing growl, then out it came a wolf with a white fur. It wasn’t that big, but looked so goddamn menacing with its snarling face, showing its sharp teeth in full glory.

 

It lunged at Liana at a very fast speed. Liana rushed toward the wolf head on. When they were about to clash, Liana dodged to the side with a quickstep and slashed her dagger at the wolf’s neck!

 

The wolf bled. It cried out in pain and began growling angrily, shifting its body and lunging at Liana again.

 

Liana used the same tactic—rushing, dodging, and then slashing—inflicting another deep gash in the wolf’s neck. The wolf bled and cried again.

 

Ayuna watched this in astonishment mixed with admiration and fascination. Liana was so quick in her movement. She was very agile and seemed so skilled at close-range combat.

 

Maybe it was because she was a beastkin? In the isekai novels she’d read, beastkins were more agile and powerful than humans. Ayuna was now experiencing it first hand. 

 

Liana was so cool! She seemed to be a gentle and delicate beauty at first glance, who would have thought that she would be so vicious in a fight?

 

This striking contrast was very fascinating.

 

Liana was about to deliver another attack when the wolf started howling loudly. Liana clicked her tongue and lunged at the wolf, twisted her body, and delivered continuous slashes!

 

She got faster and faster. Dodging, slashing, dodging, slashing. She was so fast, so vicious, and her footwork was perfect!

 

Ayuna watched the fight in awe. She clenched her fists tightly. 

 

Liana was so cool. She seemed to be very good at combat. Well, it was no surprise since she was out here all alone in such a dangerous forest. It was obvious she would have some skill. 

 

Ayuna became inspired. She too wanted to have such fighting power. It would be so much fun to—

 

A howl suddenly came from the distance, and right after came another howl and then another. 

 

Oh, no. This didn’t look so good. Bad premonition crept into Ayuna’s heart.

 

Liana lunged at the wolf, crouched, and then delivered a fatal stab to the wolf’s neck. It bled profusely and started to gurgle. Not long after, the light went out of its eyes, its body limped.

 

Liana pushed the corpse away, turned to Ayuna, and shouted with urgency. “Hurry up! More of them are coming. We have to get out of here. Now!”

 

Both of them started running all at once, heading into the opposite direction where the howls came from.

 

Ayuna felt adrenaline rushing through her vain as she became more and more excited, or maybe panicked. This situation was really bad. Good thing she had Liana with her. Thinking about what would happen if she was all alone in such a dangerous forest made her shudder. Liana was really a godsend.

 

Wait, godsend? Was all this just a mere coincidence? Or maybe…

 

A rustling suddenly came from behind. Ayuna glanced around and looked. Her eyes widened in surprise.

 

Another wolf was coming! 

 

How!? Didn’t they set off in the opposite direction? How could there be another wolf here!?

 

The wolf lashed toward Ayuna. It was so fast. One moment it was right there, and now it was right here! 

 

In reflex, Ayuna tried to dodge, but the wolf was too fast. At this rate, she would…

 

Time seemed to move in slow motion. As the wolf’s shadow crept closer and closer, covering her body, Ayuna suddenly recalled something she’d read about on the internet.

 

Wolves are cunning and intelligent creatures. When hunting large game, the wolf pack separates out and surrounds its prey.

 

Well…. Shit…

 

“Ayuna!!!” a shout came from the side.

 

At that moment, before the wolf could land its attack, the shadow on the ground moved and formed into a very sharp spike, plunging into the wolf body, impaling and stopping it midair. 

 

Blood splattered into the air. The wolf’s eyes went wide as it cried out in a silent gasp. Not long after, the light in its eyes dimmed. The shadow disappeared. The wolf plopped onto the ground, sprawling its lifeless body.

 

Ayuna fell on her butt, staring at the wolf, her eyes as wide as saucers.

 

W-Was that… Was that magic?