Defense specialization and a great failure.

Slightly shorter than usual.

The next morning.

Maple stirred awake from the bed.

“So restless, couldn’t sleep well at all…”

Maple could not sleep, restless on the bed after seven days of absence.

Maple finished dressing and walked toward school.

“It’s quite hot today…”

Maple hurried along the path to school, not enough to sweat.

Entering the classroom, Risa was already there.

The two arrived early as always, so only the two of them were in the classroom.

“Good morning, Maple.”

“Good morning, Risa!”

Maple placed her belongings at her desk and moved toward Risa.

“Feels like it’s been ages since I came to school…”

“True. Well, seven days in a row, you know… Ah, right, Maple, you should be careful today.”

“Eh? W-What?”

Even if told to be careful, Maple did not know what she should be cautious of.

"Always wary of monsters and players in the game, weren't you? Might slip out unconsciously, that habit of yours."

What Risa meant was that the side of Maple and Sally—hidden when relaxed—might surface.

"But I've played for quite a while. Nothing like that ever happened before."

"Still, just in case? You've never logged in for seven days straight before, have you?"

"True… yeah, got it! I'll keep an eye out."

As they spoke, other students began to trickle into the classroom.

Maple ended the conversation and returned to her seat five minutes before class began.

That evening, on the way home.

Maple reached her room with unsteady steps. She buried her face in the pillow and screamed.

……Today never happened! Never happened! Never happened!

Maple replays the day.

First period.

……suh…suh…

Maple, who had not slept well the previous night due to restlessness, had fallen asleep unexpectedly.

The new seat assignment placed her near the window, and the pleasant warmth of sunlight only deepened her drowsiness.

Those who rarely sleep are woken.

Risa is not one of them.

The girl sitting beside Maple is told by the teacher to poke Maple awake.

“N…n?…fah…already shift change?…what?”

She stretches, speaking loudly, her voice thick with sleep.

The classroom stirs.

Maple recalls where she is—but it is too late.

“Told you to pay attention.”

Risa murmurs, glancing at Maple.

……Focus on the lesson.

Y-yes…sorry…

This is the first mistake.

The next break came after the third period.

A hallway between the restroom and the classroom.

The corridor was busy—there had been a moving classroom lesson.

At that moment, a girl walking behind Maple accidentally bumped into another student and dropped her textbooks and pencil case.

Of course, the items struck the floor with a sharp sound.

“…!”

Maple executed a flawless turn, her left hand thrust forward, her right hand drawn to her hip.

A motion she had practiced repeatedly, as Risa had instructed.

Perfect, in any other place.

But no great shield, no short blade, was present.

“Eh? Eh?”

The girl froze, staring at Maple mid-pose.

Maple slowly retracted her arms, offering a stiff, awkward smile, then turned and left quickly.

Maple’s mind is already shattered at this point.

Even if one fails twice in front of others, anyone would feel their spirits drop.

Maple now watches her own actions closely, determined not to fail again.

Yet failure repeats itself.

The more one tries not to fail, the more one fails—this is common.

After lunch, physical education.

Dodgeball in the gym.

Maple and Risu are on the same team.

At this point, the entire team’s defeat is avoided.

No matter how hard others try, Risu cannot be hit.

The opposing team relentlessly targets Risu, yet never lands a strike.

Unlike in-game, there is no need to narrowly avoid the ball—thus, a hit should be impossible.

“Still as incredible as ever…”

If Maple had stopped looking at Risu at this moment, the greatest failure of the day might have been avoided.

“…Maple!”

If the opposing team had shifted their target from Risu to another, the chance of being struck would have increased.

This time, the new target was Maple.

Maple had been looking toward Risu. Reaction came too late.

By the time Maple turned to the ball at Risu’s call, the ball was already flying straight toward her.

Maple, in the past, would have dropped low or leapt sideways at once.

But Maple’s method of avoiding things flying toward her lately had not been that.

“【Cobarm—ah!”

She barely noticed in time, clapping both hands over her mouth. But in that state, she could neither dodge nor catch the ball.

Face-safe did not apply.

“Maple!? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…”

For Maple, nothing was wrong—except for the fact that someone was now talking about Maple suddenly shouting something.

None of the girls here had played NewWorld Online except for Risā, so it was fortunate that Maple did not understand what she had said.

“Just rest for a moment…”

“That’s best.”

Maple leaned her back against the wall, head lowered.

This was all the failure of today.

“…Just stop the game for a little while.”

For the next three days, Maple did not log in once, out of caution.

Whether the result came from that, or from resolve.

After three days, Maple no longer failed.

During these three days, Maple had not received any information about NewWorld Online.

Risā had been careful, too.