(Author's note: HI everyone~! It's me again, Sora Sensei. While I have managed to make no progress on my other novel, I have decided to add this new one because it has helped me get a bit of my mojo back...or rather, it seemed to write itself, when all's said and done. Also, quick warning-in case you didn't read- this is a comedy ROMANCE. So, beware of pink flowers floating in the background. I hope you can enjoy this new story, although it may update even slower than the last one...perhaps once a month, or so. That being said, please enjoy~! end of author's note)

A bright light met my eyes as I found myself floating in a white space. Looking around, I was disoriented for a bit, before a twinkling sound brought my eyes back in front of me, and I drew back quickly in surprise.

Not two inches from my face, a handsome bishounen was staring into my eyes, a contemplative look upon his face.

He had long dark brown hair, and sharp eyebrows, kind of like a wuxia novel character. He was dressed all in a pristine silken white outfit with teal accents from the middle of his neck to the bottom of his boots. His dark eyes were bright with curiosity. Two golden bells hung from a red cord tied about his waist.

Upon awakening in this realm, you have been greeted by a super handsome person~! Lu-cky~ +5 luck

A window popped up in front of me. After glancing it over, I waved it aside. While I wasn’t really trying to get additional luck, I would not reject free status points, after all.

“Hmmmm…” The Wuxia Bishie made a noncommittal sound. “I’m not so sure I like you, seeing as you don’t look too bright…but lucky for you that the intelligence stat is not limited by appearances. It should be fine, I suppose, so long as you can smarten up.”

He leaned back, a confident grin on his face.

You! Who are you! Who is this B****! I wanted to yell out, but didn’t. Instead, I calmed myself as I returned tit for tat. “I thought the AID this time would be female.”

For future reference, AID stands for Artificial Intelligence Delegate. The AID is the personal AI helper that one receives upon first logging into the game. It cannot be changed or traded with other AIDs until the character has reached at least the base level of 250.

“What? People can’t have male AIDs, is that it?” He asked, offended. My mind twitched at the un-intended reference to an old twenty-first century illness. Real mature, me. I chided myself.

He sighed with a rather aggravating know-it-all look on his face, shaking his head condescendingly. “My dear girl, haven’t you ever heard of the term ‘equivalent exchange’?”

“So what if I’ve heard of it? What has that got to do with this?” I growled, feeling insulted by this AI’s know-it-all smarty-pants-ness.

He paused. “How shall I say this in a way that your puny brain can comprehend? A few days ago, it was day one of the arriving heroes in training, correct?”

Actually, because of the time differences in the game, with a 1:8 time ratio, the official opening of the game was at midnight, six hours before she had logged on, but it would roughly translate into two days in game, yes.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Well, within the first twenty-four hours in-game, the option of choosing the gender of your AI was available. And do you know what each and every player chose?”

The blood drained from my face as I realized. “You don’t mean-”

He grinned wickedly. “Yes. It seems you’re not as dull-witted as I had first thought, if a bit slow. Every single beginner hero or heroine chose a female AID: sixty million players with female AIDs. Not a single male in the mix, either, mind you. Therefore, in order for there to be a balance of genders, after the time limit was up, and until the great imbalance was fixed, every AID after that would have to be of male gender. The rules are quite clear on this.”

I cursed my misplaced enthusiasm.

The headgear had arrived the day before, but unfortunately, in the haste to get everything set up, the game chip was misplaced, or so I thought.

But after waking up in the morning to use the bathroom, I had realized that the game case was inside my youngest brother’s overalls. That cheeky little toddler! He probably grabbed it while we were occupied and stuffed it into the front pocket. I only noticed the suspicious bulge in the clothing after I had come out of the bathroom.

It was a good thing that it was still inside its childproof plastic cover. I shuddered to think of what would have happened had he wrecked the game chip.

Having finally found it, I was so eager to start the game that I had unwittingly fallen into this predicament. Now what should I do?