Although I tried to deny the reality with all my might, the system had granted me Hitori's appearance: my former gaming partner.

She and I had met in the first version of this game.

We had gotten married in the game for the benefits in missions. We also belonged to the top four players' ranking, gaining renown based on poker.

Reitsu - The Ace of Spades.
Hitori - The Ace of Hearts.

Although our friendship formed through the game, as a fundamental rule of any online game: we only knew the appearance of our characters.

And a few months before the new Dungeon Valkyrie servers were launched, we promised we would return to the ranking together.

However, Hitori never logged back in.

When she disappeared from the game, I searched for her whereabouts with our mutual friends, but her data vanished, and there was no way to contact her.

I finally gave up after months of trying.

"And now, because of this game, I have her character!"

As if that weren't enough, I had feelings for her, so this was too much for me.

Hitori's character was striking with her long reddish hair and beautiful crimson eyes. She had goat horns and wore a red dress with black ribbons, protected by pieces of light armor.

Even if I wanted to create another account, this one had bonuses for being one of the top players in the first version.

"Even this scythe is my prize for being the Ace of Spades, how could I discard it and pretend it never happened?!"

As I shooed away some bird creatures with my shouts, the problems that using a female character would bring came to my mind.

My name... my voice... even my appearance was that of a girl! How would I reclaim my position if I looked like this?! How would I explain to the members of the ranking that the game betrayed me and that I didn't choose Hitori's character for the extra agility?!

With anger, I grabbed the scythe and performed some basic attacks.

Although I had to face a crowd of goblins as a preliminary mission, I also had to get used to the movements.

"The grip feels good. The agility is good, the strength doesn't differ. The only thing I don't understand is the reverse jump."

As a new basic skill, the reverse jump was effective for dodging physical attacks from enemies, so I had to learn it as soon as possible.

With that, I propelled my legs and executed a reverse jump.

"So... my character's panties are... Ah, damn censorship!"

As I suspected, when I performed a reverse jump, the censoring light interrupted my view. But, if everything was like the first version, the reflection of the weapons could serve me.

"Alright, one more time."

I took a deep breath. I gained some altitude and executed a reverse jump while raising the scythe towards the sun, getting a dazzling view of what was restricted.

"T-They're... black?".

Leaving my curiosities about Hitori's character behind, her appearance would bring confusion with the other ranking members; so, I devised a plan, so people wouldn't discover that I was a fraud.

"If I have Hitori's appearance and act like I'm Hitori, there won't be any problems. I just have to imitate the way she speaks, how hard could that be?"

With that in mind, I tried to imitate Hitori's attitude. Her tone of voice was a mix of arrogance and seduction, as if others were mere pawns to defeat.

"So my first mission is to kill some goblins..."

For some strange reason, I felt a bit embarrassed inside my heart.

Maybe so...

Although my imitation was flawless, I had always wanted to hear something from Hitori, so I used her voice to recreate that scene with the mirror in front of me.

"Huh? So my silly husband Reitsu feels something for me? Hehe, that's so adorable in many ways... Maybe I could give him a chance if he tells me straight."

The imitation was so good that I blushed at hearing those words, even though they were mine.

"I love you, Reitsu."

Aaah! How is it possible that it affects me if it's me who's talking?!

Even with a embarrassed face, I noticed that the mirror broke from a stone that had been thrown.

I took a breath and looked around.

"I guess there's no time for that."

Seeing that I was surrounded by the goblins from my first mission, I grabbed my scythe and began the hunt.

♨

"They don't make them like they used to."

When I took down the last one, a screen with my statistics appeared.

[Name - Reiri]
[Level - 3]
[Dark Scythe - Lvl 2] [Lvl up!]
[Attack - Lvl 3] [Lvl up!]
[Defense - Lvl 3]
[Flight - Lvl 1]
[Agility - Lvl 5] [Lvl up!]
[Magic - Lvl 1]

Reviewing the level increase, dexterity increased the scythe's base stats. That's not counting the extra agility I was granted for having a female character; I could move long distances in a matter of seconds.

"Aaaah! Help!".

As I checked the stats menu, a scream from the lower part of the forest echoed.

"Maybe another player?".

Since it was the first day of the game, the server was full of rookies. Perhaps if I took out a few, I could reach the ranking again.

With that idea in mind, I ran toward the source of the scream, where I found a player holding a wooden sword from the basic kit.

The newbie had blond hair and blue eyes.

His appearance had certain fine features, and he wore clothing typical of a prince. Similar to a predetermined character from an otome game.

"Gyaaaaaaaah! That monster's going to eat me, someone help...!"

As he said that, he was completely frozen.

His respawn played a nasty trick on him.

Since the newbie was in the restricted area, the area boss would kill him when he respawned.

The poor guy died wetting his pants, cut in two, used as food, beaten like compost, he even died crashing into a tree and tripping over his own wooden sword.

In all my time as an MMORPG gamer, I had never encountered someone who died so many times against the newbie area boss.

With so many deaths, it was certain he was the worst player I had ever seen in my life.

"Aaaahh! Someone help me! I've been here for hours, I don't want to die again!"

This time, the newbie took refuge at the top of a tree while the area boss tried to knock him down.

Indeed, although the newbie area boss was classified as a monster by the game, it didn't really have a terrifying appearance.

After all, Ileisem, the giant snow cat, was the boss of the forbidden forest.

Its appearance was like that of a Siamese cat with gray stripes.

"Please, don't hurt me..."

Seeing the newbie, I felt pity, so I decided to help him.

And when the tree was about to fall, I jumped from the bush where I was hiding and grabbed the kid, pulling him to another tree.

"Hey, blondie kid! Why are you fighting the area boss if you don't even have a level two weapon yet?"

The guy stuttered.

"I-I'm sorry, it's my first game. I-I don't know much about this, I was just looking for my friend and that cat won't stop chasing me."

"But didn't you read the notices in the forest?"

As I said this, a snow opening formed under us.

Ileisem had used the propulsion tunnel. This ability allowed it to burrow underground and jump swiftly, freezing the players above the opening.

I jumped before it caught us.

"Do you have any weapons?" I asked.

The newbie searched his pockets, but all he had was a wooden ladle in his inventory.

"Will this do?"

"Ah, yes... Of course it will, do you also have a pot, a spoon, or a fork?! Maybe you can make a stew in exchange for your freedom."

With his response, I decided to ignore him. How on earth did they expect to face an area boss with a kitchen kit?

Anyway, I had a higher level and knew Ileisem's weaknesses.

The forest boss was agile on the ground, but when it performed an attack, it tended to rise into the air. That exposed the lower part of its body, where the cross indicating its heart was located.

I just had to wait for its next move and counterattack with my scythe's special attack.

"Meoooow!"

When Ileisem leaped toward me, one of its claws hit my leg, so I took advantage of its carelessness and slid under it.

"It's over."

With all my strength, I visualized Ileisem's critical points and reactivated my agility, then I slid my scythe and made a double cut that split its heart's cross in two.

As it fell with its legs frozen, I managed to hold onto the tip of my scythe, landing on the ground.

[Level Completed!]

At that precise moment, the victory screen appeared, canceling Ileisem's freezing spell.

[Name - Reiri]
[Level - 4] [Lvl up!]
[Status]
[Dark Scythe - Lvl 3] [Lvl up!]
[Attack - Lvl 3] [Lvl up!]
[Defense - Lvl 4] [Lvl up!]
[Flight - Lvl 2] [Lvl up!]
[Agility - Lvl 6] [Lvl up!]
[Magic - Lvl 1]
[Item Bonus: Frozen Cat Hat]

As I observed my new bonuses, the newbie approached.

"Thank you so much. I thought I was going to die again."

"Oh, I forgot... How many times have you died so far?"

The newbie remained silent, counting on his fingers.

His face turned as red as a tomato.

"Ninety-seven times..."

Ninety-seven times? Seriously? What kind of player dies ninety-seven times on this level?

Although I wanted to ask him more about how he got to the end of the map, the newbie continued.

"Um... What's your name? I'm Aoki."

"Ah... My name is Reiya."

"Reiya...? Isn't that a boy's name?"

Crap... I almost said my name. I must remember that I'm a girl in the game.

"I misspoke. I said Reiya, my name is Reiri."

"I see, Reiri. Thank you so much for saving me. By the way, could you help me? I want to meet up with my friend, but I can't find the lobby."

When he said that, his eyes sparkled. With that, it was certain he would die a thousand times again before realizing that we all have a map in our inventory.

"Oh, of course I can help you. I was about to head there after finishing the tutorial."

If only I had known he would add me after that, and that we would become best friends, I would have told him from the beginning that I was a man with a woman's account.

That way, I would have avoided this stupid problem, but now that two years have passed, I can't go back and let our friendship continue like this.

"Well, tomorrow I'll tell him the truth! Aoki must know that I'm actually a man!"