Rias felt her consciousness slipping the moment those words left her lips, a sudden wave of vertigo washed over her, as if she was being dragged into a swirling current of light and sound. Then, silence greeted her.
When her eyes opened again, she was standing in the middle of a wide, sun-drenched field. The gentle breeze caressed her hair, and the faint chirping of birds echoed from afar. She blinked several times before realizing what had just happened.
"...What in the world...?"
Her voice sounded perfectly normal, but when she looked down, her outfit had changed. Gone was her Kuoh Academy uniform, replaced by a sleek dark battle dress adorned with gold trimmings. The texture felt so real that she instinctively rubbed her fingers against the fabric. Even the grass beneath her feet had weight, scent, and warmth.
"Unbelievable... this isn't an illusion, is it?"
"Oh, you're finally here."
She turned toward the familiar voice and found Kousuke standing nearby, wearing light adventurer's attire with his usual calm grin. Behind him, several travelers were tending to a group of wagons, Morgan and Akeno among them, both in completely different outfits that suited the fantasy setting more than what she was used to in reality.
Akeno's eyes sparkled with energy she hadn't seen before. The normally composed Queen now carried a peculiar kind of confident smirk as she directed a group of summoned beasts to load supplies. Morgan, on the other hand, leaned against a carriage wheel, her expression sharp but peaceful, a far cry from her usual teasing demeanor as if she had fully immersed herself as a battle hardened warrior.
"Kousuke!" Rias called, approaching him quickly. "What is this place? A dream? An illusion? Did you use some kind of mental projection magic?"
"Hold on a second, what you're seeing is not the real me, it's a projection of sort that I can control from the real world. But these fine ladies beside me are the real avatars." He said amidst the shaking with her hands around his collar. He calmly spread his arms opened and continue.
"To answer to your question, none of the above. Welcome to the Alpha server of Virtual World Online(temporary), a digital world made real through consciousness synchronization between you and the capsule running the game. Right now, your body's asleep, but your mind is completely active."
Rias folded her arms, half-impressed and half-skeptical. "So this is your so-called 'new world'?"
"Yup. What do you think?"
She looked around once more, squinting as the light from the sun touched the horizon. Even her Devil senses reacted naturally to the air's density, it felt real. However she couldn't sense the familiar demonic power within her which showed that the virtual avatar isn't her real body.
"I must admit... this is far beyond what I expected." Her expression softened slightly, she recalled the virtual reality technology hadn't developed this much. Ajuka had tried to make an improvement with demonic magic and Odin runes, but to no avail. "But how did you manage to create something of this scale? Even in the Underworld, we don't possess anything close to this level of immersion."
Kousuke simply smiled, hands tucked into his pockets. "Trade secret. Let's just say I had a few inspirations and crazy ideas."
"Inspirations?" she muttered before quickly shaking her head. "You're telling me you built this entire world just for fun?"
"Well, that—and to test human adaptability. You'd be surprised how differently people act when they know they can't die permanently." He replied with a mysterious smile.
Rias gave him a side-eye. "I'm not sure I like the way you said that."
Before she could question further, Morgan approached, locking her arm around his as she rest her chin on his shoulder. Long gone was the battle hardened warrior called Le Fay, now she's just a witch obsessed with her husband. "Don't scare her too soon, dear husband. She just logged in, after all~"
Akeno laughed softly, walking over with a confident sway in her step, a dog sized bird landed perfectly on her shoulder. "Ara~ I didn't think I'd see you here, Rias. Care to help us escort a merchant caravan? We're about to run into a bandit ambush."
"Bandits?" Rias repeated, momentarily confused, until she saw the glint of armored figures emerging from the forest line in the distance. She was surprised she could see that far, but realizing this was a virtual world, she shrugged it off to video game physics.
"Yuppers. Everything here functions like a living world, a simulation you could say," Kousuke said, summoning a sword that shimmered into existence with a soft hum in front of Rias before it stabbed to the ground. "Quests, monsters, well all you can think of. Though for today, let's keep it simple."
Since this is still an alpha test, Kousuke didn't think much and increased her level to the same level as Akeno and Morgan. The red haired girl wobble slightly when she feels strength returning to her virtual body.
Rias couldn't help but grin as she grabbed the sword and pulled it from the ground, noting the heaviness makes the situation feels much more realistic. "Very well. Consider this a test of your so-called 'video game'. I'll judge it myself."
The corners of Kousuke's lips lifted. "That's what I like to hear."
Moments later, the group dashed into battle, except Kousuke watching on top of the carriage. The clash of steel echoed across the field, digital sparks and magic light painting the air with brilliance. For the first time in a while, Rias felt the thrill of a fight where the stakes were nothing but fun, and the world itself felt alive enough to make her forget it wasn't real.
With the swing of her sword, blood sprayed as the bandit fell to the ground with a huge gash on his chest. The feeling of her sword cutting a person down feels very much responsive, much more than she expected. She had thought it would feels clunky or awkward like the usual VR shenanigans she had experienced in the past. But this, this surpassed her expectations.
No, it even exceeded her imagination.
Watching Rias smiling wide while cutting down one bandit after another, Kousuke wondered if it was a good decision to brings her here. He prayed that she wouldn't developed something horrible, like becoming addicted to battle like a certain witch who is toying with the bandits with thorny whip.
Akeno seems contented staying in the back and commanding her summoned creatures to protect the caravan. If she really loves it that much, he considered making something up in reality for her. After all, Kousuke had a feeling that he could do much more once he complete this side project of his.