“Uuu… uuuuh…”

After logging out of Stardust Frontier, Satsuki collapsed straight onto her bed.

“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

She flopped onto her stomach and kicked her legs wildly.

“My seven years… w-wasted hunting lizards…!”

On rainy days, windy days, and even stormy days.

Memories of her youth spent relentlessly chasing giant lizards flashed through her mind.

“The times I fought while reciting history timelines during exam season, the headset tan I got at the beach, even spending New Year’s while being bitten by jungle monsters… it was all just leveling up!”

She buried her face in her pillow and rolled back and forth.

“Mom was right all along…”

Her mother Yayoi had always said that she could be a little absentminded.

Never in her wildest dreams had Satsuki imagined she’d stay absentminded about the same thing for seven whole years.

“Satsuki, do you have a minute?”

“Whaaat?”

“There’s some mail addressed to you.”

“To me? I wonder what it is…”

She accepted the envelope from Yayoi, who had come into her room.

Printed on the large envelope were the words Nagase Entertainment.

It was the company that developed Stardust Frontier.

When she opened it, the first thing she found was a letter expressing gratitude.

“Let’s see… ‘For your wonderful yet crazy achievement of challenging the same quest for seven years and over thirty thousand times, we offer our deepest gratitude and respect’…”

And alongside it was a certificate.

“A Guinness World Record…”

The record was for the highest number of consecutive completions of the same quest in a full-dive MMO.

“W-What is this!?”

Satsuki dashed downstairs, her footsteps thundering loudly.

“Honestly! Mom!”

“What is it?”

“…Do we have a hook for hanging things on the wall?”

A certificate now hung prominently in her room.

After adjusting the angle of the frame, she nodded in satisfaction.

“Well, it is a record of my seven years, after all.”

Unexpectedly receiving such an impressive certificate made Satsuki a little happy.

She turned her attention back to the letter from the developers that she hadn’t finished reading.

“…Furthermore, would you permit us to feature this matter in an article? — Nagase Sojiro, Lead Developer, Nagase Entertainment.”

“An article!?”

The tragedy born from her ridiculous misunderstanding apparently wasn’t satisfied with becoming a certificate.

Now it was going to become an article too.

Puffing out her cheeks, Satsuki immediately fired off an email reply.

[Please make it a wonderful article.]

Then she flopped back onto her bed once more.

Seven years of solitary grinding had been far too long.

She let out a long, deep sigh.

“…Come to think of it, I still haven’t visited the snowy mountains or the desert.”

The thought suddenly came back to her.

The whole reason she’d started playing Stardust Frontier in the first place was because she wanted to explore its beautiful world.

“That’s right.”

“There are still so many places I haven’t seen and so many things I haven’t done.”

Once she’d decided that, the answer was obvious.

Satsuki sprang to her feet on top of the bed.

She’d done enough leveling for a lifetime.

So—

“From now on, I’m going to enjoy this game to the fullest!”

Satsuki resolved to make up for all seven years she had spent grinding levels.

And so, May’s true adventure—

Along with the most enjoyable gaming life imaginable—

Was finally about to begin.