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[Cherry Anne].

Ren recognized this nametag. He knows the real identity of the person behind this account. He knows where she lives and what her situation was like. Hell, he even knows how she’d end up in the future.

It’s crazy because Ren had been so occupied that he almost forgot that at some point, the real protagonists of this world do exist. There’s the ’main cast.’

He knew that at some point, he’d meet one of them. But he didn’t think it’d be this soon.

’Lily Anne Heartveil,’ Ren mused to himself as he stood at the same arena as her.

’Heiress of the Heartveil Family of Desolate City. The caged bird, the potted cherry blossom. The ignored, taken advantage of, and eventually tossed-aside and forgotten.

Hers is probably the saddest future Ren knew about this world. It’s also the one that infuriated him the most since the author of the story really bullied her a lot.

The avatar before him looked nothing like the real appearance of its owner. It had long black hair and doe-like eyes, wearing a modest dress covering most of her skin. It was also wearing a masquerade ball mask in a black butterfly design, wore flats instead of heels, and wielded a flexible yet sharp rapier.

It looked nothing like her in real life, and that’s on purpose. She made her avatar look this way because she doesn’t want it to be connected to her real self in any way.

Ren knew her story. He knew how isolated she felt and knew how lonely and stifled she was in her own home.

Like many people out there, the VR world is a chance for her to escape her stifling and lonely world, even just for a bit. Her VR account was one of the things that nobody could criticize, and so long as she’s being careful, they will never know that this was her.

Even her own father doesn’t know about this avatar, and she wouldn’t tell him either.

Through the placid and serene expression of the avatar, Ren could see that she was relaxed and unburdened. She looks fine and satisfied at least—something that she rarely feels in the real world.

Ren sighed.

He wasn’t expecting to meet one of the main cast so soon, and it just had to be her too.

Alas, he can’t show any signs that he knows her. That wouldn’t make sense, and it absolutely can’t happen.

All his musings happened within seconds. Ren focused in time before the countdown to the match was over.

As soon as the match started, [Cherry Anne] wasted no time. With the edge of her rapier glowing with a shade of pink, she rushed forward and planned to stab Ren’s heart right away to end this fight as soon as possible.

She was fast. Faster than normal bone-forging enemies he usually fights in this arena. She’s good with that weapon too. But Ren noticed that she seemed a little pissed today, and it just so happened that he looked like a good punching bag for her to use.

Unfortunately for her, Ren wasn’t here to be used or abused as a punching bag.

Swoosh!

Ren dodged at the very last moment before the tip of her weapon touched him. The speed and fluidity of his movement startled Cherry Anne, but not too much. She twisted her grip and changed the direction of her blade to follow him, but she was a beat late and the execution was awkward, so she missed.

She then saw a fist coming her way. She smoothly evaded it, but she became wary when she felt the gust hitting her.

His hits are heavy and come out decently fast. This won’t be easy.’

Lily felt at ease, though, despite encountering a challenging enemy.

The VR world was one of the very few escapes she had access to. She specifically loved the fact that she was given a small world to personally edit and design according to how she liked.

She’s the only one who gets to see it. Nobody else. Even if she turned the entire world pink, fluffy, and comfy, nobody would dare to judge her since she’s the only one who knew about it.

Every day, she looked forward to coming here to vent out her frustrations over the real world and to just...breathe.

She could simply exist here as she pleases and never have to worry about being judged or being told what to do or who to be in every step of the way.

Lily also liked fighting others. She specifically created an avatar that looked nothing like her so that nobody would connect it to her. She made it as ordinary and as boring as she could so that she wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention.

She could just be who she wanted to be, and nobody would give her a second glance.

That’s why she could fight here with more ease and finesse. She feels free, unrestricted, and unshackled. She doesn’t care whether she wins or not; she could just do this to learn and to have fun while she’s at it.

Swoosh

She missed the enemy again. He dodged again at the last second. It’s weird because she knew that he would try to do that again, and she was prepared to punish him for that this time, but once again, she ended up hitting nothing but air.

This [Marek] was too agile and flexible. She has no idea what kind of footwork he’s using, but he seems to be good at it.

She also doesn’t dare to take his punches directly; she didn’t even dare to meet them with her rapier because his looked solid. His chakra was thick and solid, too. It gave her an illusion that she would lose that clash 9 times out of 10.

And so, the game of cat and mouse continued. She stabs him; he evades. He punches her; she evades. It’s a strange fight; she won’t lie. But she doesn’t mind it the slightest.

In fact, she’s enjoying this. She wished that it would last just for a little bit longer.

It’s been a while since somebody actually played with her like this. Whether she’d admit it or not, she doesn’t want it to end just yet.

Ren knows this. Not just because he knows her from the story, but because of her body language during the fight.

In the world of martial arts, fighting itself is a way of communication. Ren analyzed her and could tell what she feels. He knows that she’s enjoying it and wants this to last for a bit more.

Usually, he wouldn’t do it. After all, his party was waiting for him. But he feels a bit biased because it’s her, so he indulges her for a bit.

This lasted for five whole minutes. Longer than Ren would usually permit, but he let it happen. But once he decided that this play had gone long enough, he decided to change the rhythm to signify its end.

He’s been using nothing but punches so far, but this time, he used his legs.

His kicks are stronger than his punches, which was normal. And Lily felt the difference personally.

The changed surprised her a bit, but she understood. It’s time for this little game to end. She had fun, but it must end or else it’ll become tedious instead.

She used her strongest technique, Nine Cherry Blossom Slashes. But before she could unleash the 3rd slash, she found herself cornered and stifled.

Ren moved way too fast for her. Her previous attacks never touched him because of his agility and flexibility. And when he decisively declared through his actions that he’s going to get serious, she could no longer follow his movements.

In a blur of speed, Lily felt just how heavy Ren’s hits were.

His leg made contact with her rapier. It didn’t even offer any resistance; it just bent and allowed the hit to land on her shoulders.

Her entire frame shook, and a sharp burst of pain sent tremors all over her body. Her senses felt overwhelmed, and she’s pretty sure that she went flying because of that.

She was right. When she opened her eyes, she found herself embedded on the wall. Her rapier got lost somewhere.

Lily couldn’t even open her eyes. She was hurt everywhere, and her situation was extremely bad. She’s never been hurt this badly before, not in real life—thankfully—and not in the VR world.

She’s helpless. She can’t even peel herself off the wall, even if she wanted to. Inwardly, she cursed and wanted to ask, ’Must you really hit me that hard? ’

But no matter how biased Ren was, a fight is a fight. He can’t betray his own effort, hard work, and results just for the sake of favoritism.

He did feel bad kicking her that hard, but in his defense, he was trying to end the battle as quickly as possible to prevent her from feeling the actual pain.

Alas, he used just a little bit lower than her tolerance instead of overloading her avatar completely; that’s why she still lived.

But that didn’t go on for long. He ended her soon to not prolong her agony.

Then, he sent her a friend request.

She accepted.