An Encouragement of Adventure

"An Encouragement of Adventure" (冒険のススメ) is a short story included within "The Adventure Record" (ぼうけんのきろく), a special booklet from the MF Bunko J Summer School Festival 2019.

Summary
During holiday, Suzune Horikita, Kanji Ike and Hideo Sotomura gather in Kiyotaka Ayanokōji's room. Ike and Sotomura show the other two a new VR game, explaining that 4 players are required. They ask both Kiyotaka and Suzune to join instead of their friend Ken Sudō, since they are afraid he will want to keep the game to himself. Suzune refuses and shows no interest, despite of Ike and Sotomura's insistence. Kiyotaka tells her to reconsider, as having interactions like this with classmates can be beneficial. Suzune begrudgingly accepts, saying she will only play for a bit.

After putting on the VR device, they then choose their characters. Ike is a Paladin, while Sotomura chooses the Elf. Suzune selects the Swordsman, being the first option shown, and Kiyotaka picks the Summoner. When entering the game, Suzune is in awe with its realism, exclaiming that it feels like the real world, to which Kiyotaka agrees. He explains to her about the EXP system while she checks out her swords.

To Ike's excitement, the tutorial level begins, with two wolf-shaped monsters appearing in front of them. Suzune asks if they have to fight them while questioning the ethics in killing animals. Ike tells her that it is just a game, before being suddenly attacked first by the monsters. He cries out for help, but Sotomura's healing spell has little effect. Kiyotaka asks Suzune to do the job since he doesn't know what to do, but she refuses. Ike and Sotomura soon get "killed", with their bodies turning into dust.

Kiyotaka decides to fight the monsters that are now aiming towards him and Suzune. However, his continuous punches cannot deal enough damage, and he receives a counter-attack. Seeing the situation, Suzune eventually joins in, holding up her swords. Kiyotaka remarks that her stance looks unexpectedly well, as she makes her attack and slashes one of the monsters. When the other one starts charging at Suzune, she runs up and shouts out the skill, killing the monster in a single slash.

Kiyotaka claps his hands and gives her a compliment, while Suzune claims the game just made her act like that. Kiyotaka asks her how she feels about her first RPG experience, to which Suzune admits that it is more interesting than she thought. They then wonder where Ike and Sotomura have ended up in.