This was an utterly ordinary world. More precisely, it was a perfectly normal world. The cities were packed with bustling crowds, each person busy with their daily lives. The streets were filled with traffic, the endless flow of cars forming the rhythm of urban life.
People here lived ordinary lives. From childhood onward, they experienced life's ups and downs, its joys and sorrows. This was a modern world of reality, with no swordsmanship or magic. There were no extraordinary heroes or thrilling adventures, only ordinary people living their ordinary lives.
Everyone had their own dreams and pursuits, but those dreams and pursuits were not always lofty. Sometimes it was anticipation for a delicious meal, sometimes plans for a trip, and sometimes the purchase of a new outfit. These seemingly insignificant things formed the color and vitality of this world.
When people in this world faced difficulties and setbacks, they did not solve them with swordsmanship or magic. Instead, they relied on realistic methods, such as working hard, seeking help, or changing the way they thought. They learned and grew through life, sometimes making mistakes, then becoming more mature because of them.
All in all, this was an utterly ordinary world, but it was precisely within that ordinariness that the true meaning and beauty of life were found.
On this small island nation, whose population numbered as many as a hundred million, there was an orphanage like this.
The children in this orphanage had two possible paths as they grew up. One was to be raised there until adulthood, then become independent and leave the orphanage. The other was to find adoptive parents before adulthood, become someone else's adopted child, and have a different kind of childhood. That was the future awaiting the children of orphanages in this small island nation.
However, several months ago, a strange child appeared there.
He was a boy of about five years old.
Even without an adult by his side or an identification card, and unable to register at a proper hotel, he could persuade people to provide him with a place to stay through unbelievably clever rhetoric. People had considered calling the police and letting them intervene, but the boy always disappeared without a trace before that could happen, as if he knew how everything would unfold.
It was only after orphanage staff found him on the street that he agreed, after some thought, to come to the orphanage. His reason was this: "Since I can eat and live here for free without wasting time worrying about making a living, I can spend more time on my own affairs." After that, the child moved into the orphanage.
This golden-haired child did not ask for much after moving into the orphanage. He did not play with the other children or touch the toys. Every day, he simply lazed around listlessly.
His abnormality caught the staff's attention and even alarmed the director.
"So, what do you want?" the director asked the boy.
The blond child thought for a moment before saying, "If possible, please give me a computer. I can use it to look up information and play games online."
The director initially refused. He casually came up with an excuse. "If you can score a hundred in every subject, I'll consider buying you one."
Clearly, however, he had underestimated the boy. The very next day, the boy came to the director and asked him to set a test. Without a doubt, he scored a perfect hundred in every subject.
The director was a strict man. He did not want the little brat to become addicted to computer games and waste his talent, so he went back on his promise and deliberately gave him high-school-level questions to make him give up.
Yet only a month later, the boy came to him again and asked for another test. Under the director's astonished gaze, he answered every high-school question correctly, scoring a hundred on all of them.
Thus, people often saw a four-year-old boy in the orphanage sitting alone in a corner while the others played, clutching a laptop and staring intently at the screen as he played all kinds of games that even adults found difficult to master.
This matter gradually spread through society and caused quite a commotion. As a result, all kinds of people came one after another, hoping to witness the brilliance of this prodigy.
Of course, not everyone came with that intention. Some approached the child specifically to make things difficult for him, deliberately asking university-level questions to watch him fail.
Unfortunately, the child still answered every question expressionlessly.
Only then did people realize that the child before them was a genuine prodigy.
The number of people wanting to adopt him suddenly increased.
However, he rejected them one by one. When asked why, he merely smiled without answering.
Finally, one day, when a voice sounded in front of him, the boy, who had been immersed in a game on his laptop, raised his head.
"You're that incredibly intelligent prodigy everyone's been talking about, aren't you?"
Standing before him was a slender, refined-looking twenty-year-old woman with light makeup and her hair combed back. She addressed the boy in this manner.
"Are you here to adopt me?" he asked lazily.
The woman smiled and nodded. "I have two especially clever children myself. Nice to meet you. My name is Midori Kirigaya."
The woman named Midori Kirigaya extended her hand. It was slender, yet steady.
For once, the boy remained silent for a moment. After thinking it over, he took her hand.
"Midori Kirigaya? Kazuto Kirigaya's mother." After weighing his options briefly, he accepted her invitation.
And so, under everyone's astonished gazes, the boy followed Midori Kirigaya out of the orphanage.
Everyone thought the girl named Midori Kirigaya had struck gold, and they were incredibly envious.
On the family register, she gave him the name Kazuto Kirigaya.
Another world.
Roa relinquished control of Sword Art Online to his counterpart and looked helplessly at Roxy, who was sprawled across him.
He had not expected Roxy's sleeping posture to be so indecent. She had practically treated him as a body pillow.
Smelling the faint fragrance drifting from Roxy, he quietly moved one of the hands she had draped over him.
Roxy's smooth, azure hair tickled Roa's cheek. He felt helpless and wanted to sigh.
He was troubled.
Why? Why did this seemingly refined girl sleep so terribly, nearly pressing half her body against him?
He wanted to wake Roxy, but after glancing at the girl lost in a sweet dream, he ultimately could not bring himself to do it.
I'll just let her sleep like this. My counterpart over there is already on the right track.
With that, he closed his eyes.
However, in the middle of the night, he felt his body growing heavier and heavier, while breathing became increasingly difficult. When he finally woke up suffocating and glanced to the side—
A smooth, slender leg had somehow been thrown across Roa's body. Roxy was hugging his neck tightly, and the girl's not-quite-voluptuous chest was pressed against his cheek.
Roa's face flushed in an instant. Looking at the exquisite sleeping face only inches away, he suddenly regretted letting such a cute girl sleep beside him.
He carefully lifted the girl's lovely foot and let out a breath of stale air. Fortunately, he was still young. If he were five or six years older, he probably would not have been able to resist devouring her.
After being tormented like this, however, his sleep quality was severely lacking. Splitting his attention between two things consumed quite a bit of mental energy, and he felt as though he had stayed up all night playing games.
Before you continue