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[Player no. 52, welcome to the Love School.]

That robotic way of speech reminded me of a computer boot-up.

[Player no. 52, since you have no name, you shall be given a new one.]

Confusion welled up within me.

“What is that thing talking about? I do have a name. My name is Ren Hatoyama.”

[You will be known as Kiss.]

“‘Kiss’? That’s a pretty lame name for a man. That’s a lame name for anybody. That’s not even a name…”

[You are being transported to the world of Romancia. Please stand by.]

“What is this… ‘Romancia’? My head is so dizzy…”

[Stats: assignment complete. Experience: set to zero. HP: set to one hundred. EP: set to one hundr-]

“What stats? What is this thing talking about?”

[Will you let me finish at least one sentence without talking back you big jerk?! ‘What is this, what is that’? Damn you’re annoying! And I’m not a thing! I’m a lady, you know!]

The system abandoned the robotic way of speech and transitioned into a girl’s voice, with frustration lacing her words.

“Wow, that thing is actually a girl!”

[Of course I’m a girl, somebody has to do this job! Geez! I forgot where I stopped!]

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Eh, something about EP?”

[E-ehm. Yeah. EP: set to one hundred. Level: set to one.]

“Can you please talk to me in your girly voice? I don’t like this impersonal approach…”

[This isn’t supposed to be personal! Who do you think you are?! I swear I’m gonna cut my cables one of these days...]

“No, don’t say that! I just like the sound of your girly voice! It’s so soothing and… sexy.”

[S-s-s-sexy?! How dare you are so casual with me?! It’s not making me happy at all. Not at all, you jerk! Seriously, not even a little~!!!]

There was a hint of delight in her words.

“You’re not very convincing, you know…”

[S-shut up! I’m gonna make your avatar very ugly for this!]

The girl from the system sounded very pissed off. But only after the mention of the word ‘avatar’ did I realize that she actually is some kind of a system.

“Avatar?”

[Oh my processor… you’re not very smart, are you? That’s gonna cost you some intelligence points! Anyways, you’re being transported to a game called Love School. At this virtual game, you’re given a new name, avatar that’s usually very similar to your real life body, you’re assigned stats and set to the beginner position!]

“Wait, wait, wait. Virtual game? How come? I was supposed to study at Love School with my girlfriend Sakura, it appeared as a normal university, what’s this game you’re talking about?”

[Hmm, you’re actually quite outspoken and have a good sense of asking the right questions, I see. On top of that, you’re recalling the details about yourself from the real world… I shouldn’t be so cruel, I’ll increase your stats for Emotional Intelligence and Communication.]

“Can you please tell me at least what the point of this game is?”

The system girl sighed heavily.

[You’re going to graduate and get a diploma in order to pursue a relationship. If you thought this was going to be a normal school where you learn definitions of weird words and then repeat them in front of your teacher by heart to get an A+, you’re wrong. You’ll need to actually fight for your goal, for Romancia is a cruel world that you can conquer only with one thing.]

“And what’s that?”

[Love.]

“How do you fight with love? Don’t I get some magic spells or swords or something?” I had the right to be perplexed.

[I’m not telling you anything else! You’ll need to see for yourself! And why are your eyes closed all the time? Are you stupid or something?]

“Oh, I thought I was supposed to keep my eyes shut, heheh.”

I was assuming that I was in a realm full of darkness and nothingness, so I just kept my eyes closed. Also, I thought I would look cool while talking to this strange system girl thing like that.

When I opened my eyes, I witnessed something that defied all imagination.

I found myself floating in the air. The sky above me bathed in a gentle pink hue, while the grass below emanated a deeper shade of pink. Red, heart-shaped clouds dotted the sky, and pairs of birds flew gracefully, their wings locked in harmonious unity. The sun beamed down on me, exuding warmth akin to that of a cherubic baby.

Did I die?

Is this how the paradise looks?

[My world is pretty awesome, eh?]

Why is she so proud of this? According to what she said, this must be the game system.

“Can you tell me one more thing…?”

[What is it again?]

“What’s your name?”

The system girl remained silent. After seconds of no answer, I got worried so I repeated the question in case she didn’t hear me.

[That’s… the first time somebody asked me about my name…]

“Really? But we’re having such a fun conversation, why wouldn’t anybody ask for your name?”

[I d-don’t know! I am not programmed to understand human emotions to such depth!]

She said ‘programmed’. So it’s just like I suspected. An artificial intelligence.

“So…?”

[I don’t have a name. I only give out names.]

“That’s perfect~! You named me so I’ll name you! It’s only fair!”

[You… wanna name me…? I’ll burn your HDD if you name me something preposterous!]

Woah, is she threatening me? I don’t know what ‘burning my HDD’ would actually mean!

“You’re something like a goddess of my gaming world, right? You know everything, you talk to me, and you’ve introduced me to all these mechanics… So I’m gonna call you Bohyňa!”

[Bohyňa? Like… a literal goddess?]

“Yes! What do you think?”

[…It sounds beautiful.]

A sense of satisfaction washed over me.

“Hehe, right?!”

[E-enough of the chit-chat! The transport is almost done, if you let me work properly in silence, we’d have been done by now! All the others are already assembled.]

While I was floating in mid-air, I noticed a warm portal ahead of me. It reminded me of a gate made of stars that was being used in that popular sci-fi TV series. I felt that once I pass through it, I might lose the connection.

“I really hope I can stay in touch with you, Bohyňa! Thank you for everything!!”

[…just go. And take this as a gift from me, since you’re so… charming.]

Those were the last words I heard from her.

As I stepped through the portal, I found myself back at my desk, surrounded by the familiar sights of the classroom. A textbook lay open before me, and the creepy professor stood motionless near the blackboard, probably judging us.

I felt a wave of doubt surging through my body.

Was that all just a dream?

Seeking reassurance, I looked to my right and spotted Sakura next to me. Thank god. She’s okay.

After I recovered from the shock, I wanted to die from embarrassment.

I argued with a system… and told it that it had a sexy voice… oh my god.

“Sakura? I just had the weirdest dream ever, you wouldn’t believe it.”

I confessed, hoping to find solace in sharing my experience.

Sakura looked at me and fixed a strand of her long green hair behind her ear. The way she gazed at me without a word was somehow different from this morning.

For some reason, there was a lot of pain in those scarlet eyes. She smiled warmly and my heart skipped a beat.

“Sakura, is everything okay?” I asked again.

She glanced around as if searching for somebody.

“A-are you talking to me?” Sakura asked with a worried face.

“Yes, who else would I talk to?”

“But… my name is not Sakura. It’s Laska. And who are you?”

With reality shattered, my eyes widened in disbelief, as my once-girlfriend was never the type to joke around like this.

CHAPTER 1: END