Chapter 4: A Friend of a Friend Is...

"………………"

In front of me, a man stood there, mouth wide open in shock. His usually handsome face was nowhere to be seen, replaced with the dumbest expression imaginable—it was honestly disappointing. This guy’s name is Yajima Eiji, my very first best friend and childhood buddy.

Short-cropped hair, sharp features, and a straight nose. Definitely belongs in the “handsome” category. But since his face looks exactly the same as in real life, he must’ve just reused his registration photo data, same as me. Guys with good looks sure have it easy, not needing to fiddle with adjustments—I couldn’t help but grumble about it in my head.

"Ah… is that really you, Hinata? You’ve gotten yourself quite the cute look."

Standing next to Eiji was a sharp-eyed young man in robes, thin-framed glasses perched on his nose. Another one of my close friends, Kawakura Ibuki. He’s into games, sometimes goes on strange sprees, but at his core, he’s a good guy. Unlike Eiji, he’s the cool intellectual type—another pretty boy who had plenty of popularity with the girls back in elementary school. Thanks to that, when the three of us always hung around together in upper grades and the first year of middle school, I was the odd one out. "Plain-faced," "tagalong," "message boy"… I got stuck with all sorts of unfair insults.

Anyway, after realizing I’d forgotten to give them a heads-up, I clumsily fiddled with the controls and managed to send a personal message, arranging to meet them at the park I was currently in. That was just five minutes ago.

As soon as they arrived, both of them ignored me completely and started scanning the area. When I walked up and used the chat window to tell them that I was actually Hinata, they froze solid. Well, with my face unchanged, they figured it out right away. I thought I could’ve at least altered it a little, but since it worked out for our meetup, I decided not to complain.

After taking a moment to organize my thoughts, I nodded once in response to Ibuki’s question and pulled up the chat window again.

『It’s some kind of bug, I think. I hit random character make, and it spat this out.』

I typed quickly, hit send, and with a cheerful electronic tone, a text bubble popped up into the air. While voice chat is the norm in this game, luckily it still supports text chat. That was a lifesaver.

"…Did you report it to the admins? I heard they’d handle that kind of thing."

Ibuki’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as he asked the obvious follow-up. But of course, I’d already prepared for this.

『Well, it’s not like I’ll ever get to experience something like this in real life. So I figured I’d just play as is.』

The two of them read the message and stared at me intensely, as if searching my face for answers. The strange pressure made me want to take a step back, but then they exchanged a silent look and suddenly broke into grins. Eiji, too, had finally thawed out from his frozen state.

"I see. Well, I can’t argue with that."

Apparently, they’d decided to swallow the little fishbone stuck in their throats. Suppressing the sigh of relief that almost slipped out, I silently thanked them and sent out friend requests, which we all registered on the spot.

　　　Online★Communication
　　　　　　　　Contact.00-4 『A Friend of a Friend Is...』

"…By the way, can you even fight?"

As we walked along toward the NPC assigned to tutorial quests, Eiji suddenly dropped that question. Tilting my head in confusion, I soon realized he was eyeing me up and down, as if measuring me. Made sense. Shrinking over thirty centimeters in height would definitely throw anyone’s movements off. I’d been badly disoriented myself in real life when my viewpoint had changed so drastically.

『I don’t really have attack power, so I’ll just have to grind out little quests bit by bit.』

I chose not to give a clear answer. Compared to Eiji, who’s an actual kendo black belt, most players—even with system assists—would be hopeless in a fight. On top of that, magic users like me don’t get the close-combat assist system that physical classes have, so the only option is to follow MMO basics: hunt the weakest mobs and level slowly.

After I explained, the two of them fell silent, wearing vague expressions. Did I say something weird? Even when I pressed them, they just brushed it off vaguely until we reached the NPC.

The NPC’s location turned out to be inside a building with a quill-and-ink sign, along the main street just off the plaza where I’d first spawned. In other words, the adventurers’ guild. Luckily, the park I’d been waiting in wasn’t too far away, so even with my shorter stride, it only took a few real-time minutes to reach the destination.

I could tell they were slowing their pace to match mine, but for the sake of my pride, I pretended not to notice. With that thought shelved away, I turned my attention to the bustling street ahead.

"…………"

"This is the main street—also called the Market District. As you can see, it’s the most crowded spot in the entire world right now."

Just like Eiji said, the wide boulevard was packed wall-to-wall with player-run stalls. Throngs of visitors filled the area, creating an almost festival-like chaos. Just looking at it all was dizzying enough to make me feel motion sick.

Nervously, I steeled myself and stepped forward. But in this smaller body, I had far less strength than I expected, and I was quickly swept away by the crowd.

"Hey, you okay?"

"!?"

Just before I was about to be separated, Eiji’s hand shot out and grabbed me, pulling me close. I nearly stumbled, but managed to steady myself. I’d never paid attention before, but his hand was surprisingly big. …Or maybe my current hands were just really small. From my new perspective, Eiji loomed so far above me it was more than just a head taller.

In this game, you can’t alter body size. Not long ago, I only had to tilt my head slightly to meet Eiji’s eyes. Now, I had to crane my neck so much it made me sore. That undeniable difference hammered home the fact that I had become a little girl.

"Eiji, just escort her like that. With her height, she’ll get lost in this crowd."

"Got it. Then, shall we go, my lady? …Pfft."

Ibuki spoke with an exasperated look at the sea of people, and Eiji replied playfully. Normally, he’d never say such corny things, but clearly the fantasy atmosphere had him hyped up. Plus, since he knew I was still a guy on the inside, he was obviously teasing me. Not that it mattered much—he cracked himself up before I even had the chance to retort.

"…………"

For now, I shot Eiji a half-lidded glare to make it clear I wasn’t happy. Unfortunately, it didn’t have much effect—if anything, he was barely holding back laughter. It looked like the two of them had silently agreed that teasing my appearance was the best course of action. And since I’d just declared that I was “doing this by choice,” I had no way to strongly protest. What a blunder. What humiliation.

"That girl’s so cute…"
"You don’t see kids that young around here. Maybe she’s their little sister?"

As if to drive the nail deeper, two nearby female players gave me warm, gentle smiles, the kind you’d give a child. Apparently, I looked like the little sister of some elementary-school-age player, being escorted by her brother and his friend. Had I ever felt humiliation like this before? Their voices and gazes were full of tender amusement, and every bit of it stabbed at my heart. It’s not like I ever asked to end up like this…

"…"

"…W-wait, seriously!?"

Before I realized it, sobs had escaped. My vision blurred as tears welled up. Eiji, startled by my sudden crying, instinctively let go of my hand. I felt guilty for scaring him—he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Ever since I got this body, my emotional threshold has been alarmingly low. Just like a real child, I can’t hold things back. Even when my mind thinks I’m calm, my heart and body betray me. This time, the crushing weight of shame was simply too much, and fat tears began rolling down my cheeks.

Thanks to my conspicuous appearance, we’d already been drawing attention—and now nearby players who witnessed the scene started murmuring among themselves.

"Wait, wait, wait!?"
"Calm down, Hinata! Why are you crying!?"

The ones panicking the most were, of course, the two idiots beside me. With women in the crowd shooting them accusing glares, they were visibly rattled. As for me, I hated standing out, so this was beyond bad. Female characters were already rare enough, but one that looked like an elementary-schooler? There probably weren’t more than a handful of us in the whole game. At the very least, everyone here would definitely remember my face now.

"…! …!!"
"Whoa, huh? What’s that?"

If things kept going, this would only snowball. In desperation, I wiped my tears roughly with my sleeve, grabbed Eiji’s hand, and pointed urgently across the street.

"Eh? Uh, that way?"

"！！"

"Ah, I get it. Yeah, we should move out before this gets worse… Eiji."

While Eiji tilted his head at my gesture, Ibuki caught on quickly. Thanks to him, my intent finally got through. But then Eiji went and pulled something far beyond anything I expected.

"!?!!"

"Alright, then—time to dash!"

"You idiot… ah, whatever, later. Let’s just get out of here, these stares are killing me."

Of all things, he hoisted me up onto his shoulder. From the outside, it looked exactly like a kidnapping. Ibuki seemed to realize it too, his face a mix of exasperation and resignation—but he quickly adjusted, sensing the mood in the crowd shift from accusatory to merely suspicious.

"For now, the hangout spot, right!?"

"Nowhere better."

"～～～！！"

They settled on our destination without even consulting me, and then Eiji charged off at full tilt. His speed was impressive—the scenery whipped past in a blur. But because of that very speed, every time he weaved left or right to avoid buildings, I nearly slipped off. Without a thought for me, he vaulted over obstacles, while I pounded on his back again and again, desperately trying to signal that I could run on my own and wanted down.

"We’re headed for the hangout! Nobody goes there, so you’ll be fine!"
"～～～～～～！！！"

That’s not what I meant at all!!

Tragically, not a shred of my intent got through to him. I guess our bond wasn’t nearly strong enough yet to reach the level of silent understanding. Worse, the way he carried me made every dodge and leap horribly unstable—my vision shook wildly, and I felt like I’d fall off any second. It was genuinely terrifying!

Overwhelmed, I let out a silent scream inside my heart. But, of course, it reached no one’s ears.

Inside the empty tavern, I sat on a stool, glaring at Eiji with tear-filled eyes as he bowed apologetically before me, while my fingers tapped out a message.

『That was scary』

Apparently, Eiji had gotten carried away while running and decided to pull some parkour-like stunts—jumping over obstacles he had absolutely no reason to. On the way to this small tavern on the edge of town, the place they apparently use as a hangout, I lost count of how many times I nearly fell. I carved into the shelves of my heart the lesson that this was not someone to entrust with small children.

"I'm reflecting on it."

Eiji lowered his head after reading the short message balloon I’d barely managed to send out in my exhausted state. Apparently, even if they knew the “inside” was a man, tears shed with this appearance still carried some weight. I hated using it—every time I did, it felt like an important part of me as a man was being chipped away—but some things couldn’t be suppressed.

"Still, what happened? I didn’t expect you to actually start crying. That was… way beyond what I imagined."

Ibuki’s words weren’t wrong. They knew my "inside" wasn’t the same as my outward appearance. There was no way I’d normally cry over something like that. Sure, even without knowing the circumstances, their teasing did sting my pride a bit, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t shake off by sulking into a pillow later.

Even I hadn’t expected to lose control of my emotions like this. Was I being influenced by this transformed body? The thought of my heart itself becoming that of a little girl… made my spine go cold.

『It’s like… my emotions just exploded』

Ibuki read the message and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. How exactly had he interpreted the fear trembling across my face? His expression suddenly turned serious as he fixed his gaze on me. Guilt gnawed at me—for keeping secrets from them, and for causing them trouble earlier—so I averted my eyes and looked down.

"…It’s true, I was teasing you. Sorry about that."

"I went too far too, my bad."

"……!"

Ibuki must have come to his own conclusion, because he bowed his head. Eiji followed suit. They were apologizing, even though I’d been the selfish one dragging them along. My chest tightened with self-loathing. No, this wasn’t right—I hurriedly moved my lips, quickly opening the chat window.

『No, it’s not because you teased me. I don’t even really know the reason myself, but it’s not your fault, either of you』

"…Hinata."

This time it was Eiji’s serious face. It was hard to meet his eyes, and I turned away again. An awkward silence lingered over us.

"Got it… let’s end this here."

『Thanks』

It was Ibuki who read the mood and deliberately broke the silence. He always helped me at times like these. Of course he probably wanted to ask about it, wanted me to explain. I knew that without even thinking. And yet, they didn’t press. They pretended not to see. That was why I ended up relying on them. Just a little longer—please let me remain the "me before all this changed" for just a little longer.

『So this is your hangout spot?』

"Yeah. Honestly, there are so many players around here that it gets ridiculously crowded. Eventually the mid-rank groups will probably start basing themselves on other continents and spread out."

Eiji explained in response to my attempt at changing the subject. Since this place was away from the main areas players frequented, and also an abandoned shop without even an NPC clerk, it made the perfect private hangout for them.

『I’m still not good with crowds』

"Same here."

"Can’t say many people are, really."

We all laughed lightly together at that. Finally, things were back to normal, and I felt myself calm down. I scrubbed my eyes roughly with the sleeve of my coat. Just then, with my vision blocked, I heard the sound of feet slamming against the ground, rapidly closing in.

"Justice strikes!!!"
"Hebuh!?"

When I looked up in surprise, what I saw was a light-brown-haired girl, her short skirt fluttering as she brought down a paper fan in a beautifully executed, twisting form straight onto Eiji’s head. …Who?

"You… you’ve made me angry…!"

"Wait, Meiri! It’s a misunderstanding! I don’t know what’s going on, but you’ve got it all wrong!"

Could that even be called an excuse? I stared blankly at Eiji, who had fallen on his backside and was blurting out incoherent words. My brain hadn’t quite caught up to the situation yet. Judging from the fact she called his name, they clearly knew each other, but my own shyness skill had triggered, keeping me from stepping in directly.

"This pervert right hereeeeee!"

"Hey, whoa!?"

Right before my eyes unfolded a furious rush of paper fan attacks. From above, from the side, even from odd angles, she swung the fan with blinding speed. That alone was impressive, but Eiji’s evasive maneuvers were equally so. Out of what must have been close to a hundred strikes so far, he’d only taken three hits. He didn’t seem damaged at all, though every time he did take a hit, he was sent flying and rolling across the floor. That part was… maybe a little concerning.

But wait, wasn’t player-killing supposed to be impossible inside town? Watching closer, I realized that no matter how spectacularly Eiji was being blown around, he wasn’t actually taking any damage.

Huh? Tilting my head, I thought for a moment before remembering the wiki’s mention of a mysterious "comedy weapon" category. Right—these were weapons that inflicted no damage or pain, but could still be used to strike players in non-combat zones.

On the light end, there were props like the paper fan she was wielding. On the heavier side, there were giant hammers. And if you went all the way, even explosive magic was included. The variations were endless. Of course, reckless use could be deemed harassment and penalized, up to and including getting banned. Usually, they were just for messing around with friends. So… this was allowed?

"…Don’t worry. She’s a classmate of ours, and one of our guild members. This sort of thing happens a lot—it’s like puppies or kittens playing rough. Nothing to worry about."

I glanced at Ibuki, silently asking how I should handle this. He gave me a strained smile and answered earnestly. I’d known, in theory, that they had social circles outside of me. But actually seeing it in action like this… I couldn’t help but feel a little lonely.

Not that there was anything enviable about this particular situation. Sure, she was pretty enough, but the way she screamed like some villainous overlord during her rush kind of ruined the effect. Maybe I should try to stop them? …No, I didn’t have the courage to throw myself into that storm. For now, I’d trust Ibuki’s words that they were close and just watch from the sidelines. Please, Eiji—survive this somehow.

"Why the hell am I the one getting beaten up here!?"

"Don’t you dare say you don’t know why! ‘Mii’ told me she saw ‘Ace’ lure a little girl into an alley! And when I rushed back to check, you were making her cry right here! To think you’d do something like that… I was a fool to believe in you!!"

‘Ace’ was Eiji’s character name, while Ibuki went by ‘River.’ The names came from “A” for Eiji, and the “kawa” in Kawakura meaning “river.” Honestly, pretty simple-minded naming… not that I had room to judge.

Anyway, the point was: she’d heard from someone about the earlier commotion, rushed back, and found me surrounded by the two of them, wiping away tears. To her, that clearly screamed guilty as charged. …Wait. Wasn’t this technically my fault?

"No, wait!? That’s the real misunderstanding here!"

"Misunderstanding? That little girl is right here, and she was crying! As your friend, if you’ve strayed from the right path, it’s my duty to beat you back onto it!"

…Though maybe she should at least hear him out before hitting him. Still, she didn’t seem like a bad person. For Eiji’s sake, I decided I needed to clear things up and stepped down from my chair. But Ibuki gave me a subtle shake of the head, warning me off. He was right—without the strength to actually restrain her, stepping into that storm might be dangerous. Better to wait and watch as their shouting started shifting into something resembling a conversation.

"Well… she was crying, but…"

"Exactly! Only the lowest of the low would abduct a little girl and make her cry like that!!"

The fiery rage from moments ago had vanished, replaced by a calm, almost scolding expression as she lectured Eiji. The paper fan was gone. Deciding it was safe enough now, I raised my palm to reassure Ibuki that I’d be fine, and took a step forward toward them—

"Listen well. Little girls are meant to be cherished, adored, and enjoyed!!"

"Pervert, much!?"

—only to instantly retract my step and dive behind Ibuki with surprising agility. Apparently, I had misinterpreted Ibuki’s earlier warning. The real danger in approaching her… was to me.

"How rude! Call me a lady!"

With her bold declaration ringing out behind me, I frantically fumbled for the logout button.