Chapter 1: The First Wish and a Familiar Face

He hadn’t been slain by a formidable boss within the game; rather, his death had been a physical one.

[You were on your way home with your childhood friend when a truck drove towards you. You pushed your childhood friend away in time, successfully saving her life.]

The vivid crimson text before him shifted incessantly, as if intent on revealing the precise cause of Lynne’s demise.

Upon seeing this, Lynne exhaled a long, relieved breath.

‘That’s a relief… as long as Tiya is safe.’

Memories surged through his mind like an ocean tide, and Lynne gradually recalled the events: he and his childhood friend had just left the anniversary celebration for a game called [Trasil].

On their way home, a delivery truck had careened towards them, and in a desperate, split-second decision, he had shoved his childhood friend out of harm’s way.

At that moment, his paramount concern was his childhood friend’s well-being, especially given her delicate nature…

As if privy to Lynne’s innermost thoughts, the crimson words continued their transformation.

[After your death, your childhood friend held your body, crying loudly for you not to die…]

Lynne’s emotions were a tangled knot. If he had had any choice in the matter, he would have spared Tiya such profound grief.

Still, her survival was a comfort. Yet, in the very next instant, his gaze froze.

[After handling your funeral, one evening she ended her own life. According to her wishes, your graves were interred together.]

W-what…?!

Lynne’s voice hitched, his breath grew ragged, and a searing pain lanced through his chest…

‘That foolish girl! I pushed you away precisely so you would live!’

[Tiya could not accept your departure. To her, you were her reason for living.]

Lynne fell silent. Another person might have argued that she still had parents, other relatives, and countless other reasons to go on living.

But… his childhood friend, Tiya, had grown up alongside him in an orphanage, both parentless.

They were each other’s sole family, their bond akin to two small, vulnerable creatures huddling and licking each other’s wounds through countless lonely nights.

As childhood companions who had shared so many years, Lynne still desperately wished for his childhood friend to live a full life.

Lynne could comprehend Tiya’s feelings, yet the understanding brought him no less anguish.

A profound sense of regret also settled over him. He had intended, after the anniversary, to sell off all his in-game currency, save up enough money, and then propose to his childhood friend.

But instead—

A wave of profound regret washed over his heart.

The large crimson characters continued to shift:

[Do you have any wishes?]

This time, the words before him ceased their grim recounting of his past life, transforming instead into an inquiry.

‘A wish?’

Lynne then recalled a casual fantasy he had once shared with Tiya: if they were ever to transmigrate, he wished it would be together, into the world of Trasil.

After all, weren’t there countless anime and novels about protagonists being transported into game worlds and becoming invincible?

He cared little for invincibility; merely restarting life with his childhood friend would be enough.

Now, he remembered. He remembered her radiant smile from that day.

The answer sprang forth in his heart.

‘Was there even a need to ask—!’

‘Of course it was—!’

[I want to live together with Tiya!]

No crushing burden of mortgage or car payments, no soul-crushing commute slowly eroding their zest for life.

While even a game world would present its own challenges, Lynne’s deepest, most fervent wish remained—

[I want to be with her, no matter where!]

***

Beneath a different canopy of stars.

Tiya gazed at the crimson text, which now posed a question regarding her own wish.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she blurted out:

‘My wish, I want that idiot to be resurrected… Oh, and he really liked that game. Aren’t there often novels and anime about transmigrating into game worlds? If I could live with him in a game world he likes, that would be quite nice…”

Tiya’s eyes shone with a hopeful longing for the future, and her words poured forth, unstoppable.

‘If you truly want to know my wish—’

[I want to be with him, no matter where!]

In the precise instant their wishes were uttered in unison—

A tender, innocent voice echoed simultaneously in both their ears—

[Wish granted. I hope you enjoy my gift.]

***

Lynne’s eyes fluttered open. A gentle breeze softly caressed his cheek, while the coarse tips of grass pricked his skin, sending a faint sting across his face.

“Where am I?” He pushed himself upright, his gaze sweeping across the unfamiliar landscape with a bewildered expression.

Towering, ancient trees grew in dense profusion all around him, their massive trunks seeming to embrace him in their midst.

It certainly didn’t resemble his home country. Lynne suddenly recalled the voice of unknown origin that had spoken in his ear.

“Wait, Tiya…”

As Lynne’s mind drifted back to that ethereal voice, the grim fate of his childhood friend resurfaced, haunting his thoughts like a persistent nightmare.

His chest felt as though a colossal hand was clenching it tightly, and a cold sweat of pure terror beaded across his forehead.

“Daddy…?” A tender voice suddenly broke the silence, and Lynne stiffened, his body instinctively swaying.

Then, a cascade of soft, long hair, a shimmering streak of silver, entered his field of vision.

Why was a little girl nestled against his chest?

Yet, as Lynne looked down, he saw her soft, pudgy cheeks, large, glistening eyes, and plump little hands clutching his shirt, refusing to let go.

The little girl’s innocent smile instantly dispelled the gloom that had settled in his heart.

“How old are you, little one?”

Though still reeling with confusion, Lynne consciously pushed aside his unsettling emotions. A gentle, serene smile bloomed on his face as he asked.

“Vivian is four… this year!”

“Oh! Four years old, how wonderful~” Lynne wasn’t quite sure what was so wonderful about it, but he found himself instinctively playing along, unable to resist reaching out to gently pat the head of the little girl named Vivian.

It felt like a primal instinct; Lynne had made the affectionate gesture without conscious thought.

Lynne suddenly recalled that he and his childhood friend had also had a daughter in the game, coincidentally named Vivian.

“Hehe~” Vivian, basking in the gentle touch on her head, blissfully squinted her eyes. “It’s been so long since Daddy patted my head! Vivian loves Daddy the most!”

“Me too~ Wait—!” Lynne had instinctively replied with a smile, but then he abruptly realized something was amiss, his movements halting. “Hold on, little one, what did you just call me?”

“Daddy~”

Vivian’s voice was saccharine sweet and utterly adorable… yet she couldn’t fathom why her daddy was asking such a question, so she tilted her head in innocent confusion:

“Daddy, why are you being so silly? Are you doing something naughty and scared Mommy will find out? It’s okay, Vivian won’t tell Mommy~”

Vivian wrapped her arms around his waist, rubbing against him like a tiny kitten.

‘So adorable… no, wait!’

Lynne shook his head, narrowly avoiding being completely captivated by the little girl’s adorable charm.

He certainly didn’t recall ever having a daughter this old. Lynne could attest that his personal life was utterly pristine; the only woman he was intimately close to was his childhood friend…

If Tiya were to discover he suddenly had a daughter this age… he would be utterly doomed.

It was true that Trasil had introduced a child-rearing system. His childhood friend, finding it amusing, had dragged him into ‘having’ a daughter in-game.

Trasil was a remarkably comprehensive fantasy-themed holographic open-world exploration game.

Even when the child-rearing system was implemented, players’ senses were shielded during that particular process; it was merely a brief blackout, and then the ‘birth’ was complete.

Lynne harbored some lingering regret about that… No, wait! He was getting sidetracked.

“Little one, this big brother truly isn’t your daddy. Can you tell me where you live? I’ll take you home, alright?” Lynne narrowed his eyes, his voice patiently gentle.

No sooner had his words faded than the smile vanished from Vivian’s cherubic face, replaced by a mournful pout.

Being so young, she couldn’t comprehend. Her daddy used to love stroking her hair, telling her stories she didn’t quite grasp, and taking her to all sorts of wondrous new places.

What had happened to Daddy today?

Vivian’s imagination was remarkably vivid. Her mind immediately leaped to the conclusion that Daddy wanted to abandon her, deliberately pretending not to recognize her.

At this thought… her long eyelashes trembled faintly, and tears, like crystal threads, began to trace paths down her cheeks.

“Vivian will be good, Daddy, please don’t leave me…”

Vivian’s eyes welled up, on the verge of a full sob. Children, prone to tears as they are, rarely stop once they start.

It was peculiar, but seeing Vivian’s distressed tears, Lynne found himself flustered. A suffocating tightness gripped his chest, as if an inexplicable, special bond existed between them.

Vivian sniffled, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. “My daddy’s name is Lynne!”

She then spilled everything out in a rapid-fire torrent, like beans tumbling from a sack:

“Daddy is super strong, but in front of Mommy, he’s like a little kitten. Daddy hid ten gold coins in a vase, and Mommy found them, so she made you kneel on the floor. And, and…”

Vivian was about to continue, but Lynne cut her off, his heart giving a sudden lurch.

He stared at the soft, adorable little girl in utter disbelief. Everything she had just recounted was a perfectly accurate description of his everyday interactions with his childhood friend within the game.

Trasil was indeed touted as the most realistic fantasy holographic game. Lynne’s interactions with his childhood friend in the game were indistinguishable from reality.

His favorite pastime was secretly stashing away pocket money, though Tiya always managed to find it. While hiding money had no real in-game purpose, he cherished the feeling of such everyday domesticity.

Vivian knew even this. Could she truly be his and Tiya’s daughter?

But that couldn’t be right—even if he had transmigrated, surely his in-game daughter wouldn’t have come along?

“Vivian, please don’t cry for a moment.”

He gently wiped away the tears from Vivian’s eyes, intending to speak softly, but she interrupted him.

“I know what Daddy wants to ask! I, I have this!”

Vivian, reaching into a pocket sewn into her dress, pulled out a sapphire-studded ring radiating a sacred aura and offered it to Lynne.

The moment Lynne’s fingertips brushed the ring—

A tidal wave of memories surged into his mind, crashing against him like waves against a reef. Lynne’s face paled as the overwhelming flood of information washed over him.

“Daddy……!” Vivian asked, her voice filled with concern.

“I-I’m fine, Vivian.” Lynne waved a reassuring hand, a faint smile touching his lips, indicating that she needn’t worry.

Hoo.

After a long moment, Lynne reopened his eyes, letting out a deep breath.

He was beginning to understand everything.