The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 1: The “Ba” in Bakudan is the “Ba” in Balance

Episode 1

“Whoooa…! I got it…!”

It was around 11 o’clock at night, just as I, Rinka Yamamoto, was thinking about going to bed, when I noticed that notification email.

I had just turned on my PC to quickly check if any work emails had come in before sleeping, and that’s when this email arrived.

[Important] Life is Adventure Winner Notification

About five years have passed since it became possible to perfectly recreate the five senses in a virtual world, indistinguishable from reality.

And now, five years later, the full-fledged VRMMORPG set to be released is none other than this Life is Adventure – commonly known as LIA.

Of course, many VRMMORPGs have been released during these five years.

However, none of them had fully utilized the capabilities of the new generation VR devices, or reached the level of a revolutionary system that perfectly appeals to all five senses.

In the past, novels and manga used expressions of people experiencing amazing sensations in VRMMORPGs, but current technology hadn’t reached that level yet.

This issue was often lamented as a lack of development funds, scale, or technical capabilities of development companies, but LIA is different.

Game reviewers from magazines unanimously gave it perfect scores and high praise, even going so far as to say “LIA allows you to experience a new world!”

The developer, a company called Yggdrasil, also released a statement saying, “With the concept of LIA being a separate world, it not only allows you to experience the world with all five senses, but also offers a level of freedom that surpasses existing RPGs, making it a new era game.” It’s irresistible.

Naturally, LIA raised expectations among gamers, and caught up in this excitement, even the general public started thinking, “If they say that much, maybe we should try it too.” It became a major social phenomenon, with momentum building for people to play LIA.

Thanks to this, the initial shipment of hundreds of thousands of copies was put on a lottery system, and I was fortunately selected as one of the 100,000 winners.

Of course, I had already purchased the new VR device (not just for LIA, but still). I’m the type to go all out for these things, or rather, I’m an otaku girl whose only hobby is playing games on holidays, so I didn’t miss out!

“Hm? Another email came. From my sister?”

Reading the contents, it seems my sister also won the lottery for the initial shipment of LIA.

Along with her joy, she tried to one-up me saying, “I’m luckier than you, big sis! It’s about luck!” so I quickly replied, “I won too, you know?”

“Well, now that I’ve secured a copy from the initial shipment, I guess I have no choice but to play it…”

That’s right.

I have no choice but to play it excessively…!

So, I completely stopped taking new orders for my freelance work… illustration and design work, that is.

This is the good thing about being self-employed… well, an illustrator in my case. You have the freedom to do this kind of thing.

Then, I made a tight schedule to finish all the work I had accepted before the initial shipment of LIA arrives. It’s quite a tight schedule…

“It’s pretty close… I could finish earlier if I cut corners, but that would go against my principles, so I absolutely won’t do that.”

This is work I do because I love it. I can’t cut corners here. I’ll put all my effort into drawing cute, erotic, cool, or hard-to-understand pictures!

“Hehehe, this pressured mental state brings out my best work! Hehehe!”

Laughing creepily like that, I spent a month completing my work.

Finally, the software arrived.

Work?

Yeah, I finished it perfectly…

I pushed myself quite hard though…

Staying up all night was the norm!

Energy drinks were my best friends!

But it’s fine because I made it in time!

There were no clients asking for retakes, and unlike usual, it was a series of first-try OKs. Maybe it really was related to my mental state. Or perhaps it was sheer determination?

“Let’s see, insert the software and…”

So anyway, now I’m in the middle of setting up to launch LIA. To start it up, you just need to insert the software, connect to the network, and enter the authentication key that comes with it.

Then, once the network confirms it, the data is downloaded to the VR device, and after the download is complete, you can start the initial game setup.

By the way, LIA seems to use a system that authenticates by linking personal data, hardware, and software. Apparently, if any of these conditions change from the initial game launch, the game itself becomes unplayable.

In other words, it can’t be resold second-hand.

Also, it’s said that player impersonation is impossible.

Now then, the download will take some time, so I think I’ll go out to buy some food supplies in the meantime.

■□■

I’m back~

Oh, the download is complete.

After stuffing the food into the fridge, I immediately put on the head-gear type display and collapse onto my bed.

Of course, I’ve prepared a soft and fluffy bed to prevent bedsores!

“Well then, it’s finally time to start the long-awaited LIA!”

The next moment, my consciousness was instantly drawn into a pure white space, and then immediately overwritten with a pitch-black background.

This is… space, I guess?

A girl is floating in the starry sky that stretches 360 degrees as far as the eye can see.

Yes, it’s me.

As usual, my appearance is far from my actual age. No matter how you look at it, I look like a girl of 17 or 18.

And the stunningly beautiful girl appearance is still intact.

Well, thanks to that, I became a shut-in, found it difficult to reintegrate into society, and ended up becoming an illustrator, a job I can do while being a shut-in. It’s my calling, so it’s fine though.

I mean, being a beautiful girl is tough if you’re not good at dealing with things… or if you don’t have nerves of steel…

Boys stupidly confess following their lower halves, and if you coldly reject them, then the girls give you the cold shoulder thinking “Who do you think you are?” I was completely ignored and bullied even though I didn’t do anything.

I wasn’t very good at communicating with people, so I couldn’t turn things around, and I got fed up and started refusing to go to school.

Well, now I have nerves of steel to the point where I can casually upload sensitive content online and grin about it… but man, those times were tough.

So, my dark past self is floating in space. Growth? Nope! Seems like that’s just my constitution! But some parts have grown, making me even more attractive to men, right? What’s this? I’m completely the enemy of women. I want some female friends though?

I’m wearing clothes that don’t look very comfortable, but they’re really tight. It’s embarrassing just looking at it!

So, when this version of me opens her eyes, it slowly approaches… and stops right in front of me.

▶Please decide your avatar’s appearance.

Then, a row of icons for changeable elements appears.

Hmm. Isn’t there too many options to choose from?

Oh, there’s a hint at the bottom saying you can change your appearance intuitively through thought scanning.

So, if I focus my gaze on the hair color…

Ah, the hair color option is selected, and a palette appears.

Heh, it’s not just specifying a single color, but you can freely do gradients, multiple colors, and even pinpoint color changes.

As expected of a game that boasts unprecedented freedom.

As an illustrator, I want to be particular about the details.

So while I was exploring various options, I found an item called species selection.

It seems you can change the base form with this.

Humans, elves, dwarves are basic, and there are even options like goblins and dragons…

Wait, is it okay to choose dragon? Suddenly living on four legs would be tough, and it doesn’t seem like there would be many companions around. I can only see a future of being hunted by humans…

“Oh, there are demon races too.”

This is definitely something people who rushed into the game would miss, right?

Moreover, LIA doesn’t allow resets to start over.

I guess people who missed it will just have to give up on changing their race, unfortunately?”

However, as I was thinking about what I should choose… the dragon race disappeared right before my eyes!?

“Does this mean there’s a limit on the number of players for special races?”

If that’s the case, it’s first come, first served.

I might not have the luxury of leisurely deciding on my appearance.

But then again, if I rush and choose a weird race, it might make the game progression difficult later on, right? I should be careful, but also quick…

Ah, but at least I want to choose a creature with a form close to human!

“Actually, let’s avoid the human race. I don’t want a repeat of my middle school days…”

I definitely don’t want a situation where I’m surrounded by guys and can’t even focus on the game. Especially humans, I’m absolutely avoiding them.

That being said, there are quite a few unique individuals among the monster races too.

Still, I’d prefer something that looks humanoid. Wouldn’t it be difficult to walk while balancing with a tail?

“Maybe a vampire? Hmm, having obvious weaknesses might be a bit…”

Famous races with well-known weaknesses might be a no-go too. I can only see a future of being countered in PvP battles.

As I was exploring various options, I found something quite good.

“A Dullahan, huh…”

It’s the LIA version of the famous headless knight Dullahan, but this one is a fairy, not an undead.

I wonder why it’s “Dullahan” instead of “Dullahan”? Well, it’s common for names to change depending on the game. Like how something that’s clearly a slime might be called a gel.

So, I guess in this game, it’s called a Dullahan. I can accept that.

Maybe the developers wanted to emphasize that it’s a fairy, not an undead, so they deliberately changed the name.

Also, because Dullahans are categorized as headless knights, they start with impressive armor and weapons. This means you might not need to buy new equipment when you’re short on money at the beginning, right?

Anyway, I tried selecting Dullahan as my race and checked the visual appearance.

The result was a headless female knight cradling my severed head under her arm.

No, this is scary.

Also, is the viewpoint okay? Won’t I get dizzy?

As I was thinking about this, my viewpoint changed to that of the avatar, suddenly dropping.

Hmm. It feels strange, but maybe I’ll get used to it?

Or rather, it should be fine if I put the head back in its original position, right?

When I docked the head back onto the neck, it became a normal, strong-looking knight. Yeah, this looks good.

Alright, I’ll go with Dullahan as my race.

Now, should I make the armor design a bit more cool and cute in the details? Right now it looks like some bulky meat-wall tank guy design.

I’ll try to make it sharper and cool, but also sexy and feminine.

Obviously, bikini armor is out of the question, but some skin exposure might be okay.

After three hours of tweaking the design like this…

It’s done!

As a result of my obsession with details, I’ve created a silver knight showing off their stomach, upper arms, and thighs! What is this, it doesn’t look like a Dullahan at all!

Oh, and you know what?

When I chose Dullahan as my race, I was even able to design a carriage and a coffin? Huh? Are these accessories? What kind of setting is this?

So, I went all out and made those look cool too.

I designed a carriage that looks like a small spaceship, and a coffin so luxurious and gorgeous it’s like, “Where’s this treasure chest from?”

And finally, I’ve decided on my avatar’s appearance!

After deciding, I realized I hadn’t changed my own facial features. I only changed my hair to silver to match the armor, but my face was still my natural one.

Well, I guess I can hide that with a helmet or something.

Next, after the avatar, it’s time to decide on a Unique Skill.

Unique Skills are determined randomly, but apparently, you can reroll as many times as you want if you don’t like what you get.

The strategy guide that was created in advance said that it’s better to spend time on this Unique Skill gacha rather than obsessing over your avatar.

After all, it’s a Unique Skill.

In other words, it’s a one-of-a-kind skill in the world!

Essentially, this means it’s first come, first served for good Unique Skills too!

So, people who finished their avatars faster than me are probably in the middle of frantically rerolling for good Unique Skills.

At worst, they might have already decided on their Unique Skills and started the game.

Hmm, should I hurry here?

Right before my worried eyes, the skill names are changing one after another. It seems to be changing randomly, so it looks like I can’t time it.

“Well, since I can reroll until I like it, I might as well just click without thinking too much.”

The moment I thought “stop,” the randomly changing skill display stopped.

What was written there was…

▶Unique Skill: [Balance] Do you want to choose this? ▶Yes No

Balance…

Balance…?

“Huh, what kind of skill is this? Aren’t skills usually things like swordsmanship or magic?”

As I was wondering about this, an answer came back.

[Balance]

Balance is maintained in all things.

“Hmm. I don’t really get it.”

Since it says “all things,” does that mean it applies to all actions? Like, it gives bonuses to attack movements or evasive actions, allowing me to move more advantageously, or improves my sense of balance? Something like that?

Since I chose a race like Dullahan, I was a bit worried about close combat.

Moreover, the fact that it says “in all things” means that the skill activates in any situation. So, I think it has a wide range of applications.

“Well, I’m not particularly athletic, so this should be fine.”

For now, I pressed “Yes” to confirm.

There are also non-unique, Common Skills, so I can supplement what I’m lacking with those.

Anyway, right now I want to quickly make up for the three hours I spent on design. Alright, let’s do this!

And so, it’s game start!