My Love Story with Yamada-kun at LV999
It was supposed to be just another ordinary weekend. I had spent the past few weeks glued to my computer screen, grinding through a new MMORPG I had recently gotten into. My character, a high-level mage, had reached level 999, and I was determined to be the first in the game to hit that milestone. My friends had long since stopped playing—partly because of my obsession with the game, but mostly because they couldn’t keep up with my relentless pursuit of leveling up.
One evening, while I was in the middle of a particularly frustrating dungeon raid, my screen flickered and a new player joined our party. I didn’t pay much attention at first. After all, most of the players who joined were usually inexperienced and quickly became dead weight. But then, I noticed something strange: this player’s username was Yamada-kun.
For some reason, my heart skipped a beat. The name “Yamada” sounded so familiar, and I couldn’t quite place why. I shrugged it off as a coincidence and refocused on the game.
The dungeon was hard—most of the other players kept dying, and I was beginning to feel like I was carrying the entire team on my shoulders. But then, Yamada-kun started to shine. His gameplay was flawless—his strategy was impeccable, and he quickly became my favorite teammate. Every time things started to go wrong, Yamada-kun was there to save the day, using his skills with precision.
I couldn’t help but notice how calm and collected he was, even in the most chaotic situations. It was as though he was on another level, a level beyond the game itself.
“You’re amazing,” I typed in the chat after a particularly close victory.
Yamada-kun responded almost immediately, “Thanks. You’re not bad yourself.”
It was simple, but there was something about the way he said it that made my cheeks flush. We finished the dungeon, and as we all disbanded to go our separate ways, I found myself staring at Yamada-kun’s username. It lingered in my thoughts long after I logged off.
The next day, I logged into the game again, hoping to continue the adventure, and as soon as I entered the lobby, there he was—Yamada-kun, right there at the top of my friends list. It turns out, he had added me after our dungeon run.
I hesitated before accepting his invitation to chat. It felt like such a small thing, but in the context of the game, it felt like crossing some invisible boundary. But after a few seconds, I clicked the button.
“Hey, it’s me,” he typed. “Yamada-kun from last night.”
“Yeah, I know,” I replied quickly. “I mean… I remember you. You were incredible.”
“Not really. I was just doing what needed to be done. You did all the hard work.”
I chuckled nervously. “Well, you made it a lot easier.”
We started talking more and more over the next few days. What began as casual conversation about the game evolved into something else entirely. We began sharing details about our lives outside of the game. He told me he was a university student, studying computer science, and I shared that I worked part-time at a café while attending school. It seemed like we had a lot in common, despite the distance between us.
Over time, Yamada-kun started to feel less like a stranger and more like someone I could rely on. We even started running dungeons together, just the two of us. I found myself looking forward to our nightly sessions, not just because of the game, but because I enjoyed talking to him. Our conversations became deeper, more personal. We joked about our awkward childhood memories, shared our favorite books, and even debated the merits of various video games.
One evening, after we had just cleared an especially difficult raid, Yamada-kun sent me a private message.
“Hey,” he said. “I’ve been thinking… do you want to meet up sometime? I know this sounds a little weird, considering we’ve only met online, but I think it would be nice.”
My heart raced. I had been wanting to meet him too, but I didn’t know if I should take that step. What if things were awkward in real life? What if we didn’t have the same chemistry?
I sat there, staring at the screen for a while, before typing out my response.
“I’d like that.”
We agreed to meet at a small café the following weekend. I spent the whole week thinking about it, analyzing every word we had exchanged. I was nervous, excited, and terrified all at once. What if I was just some anonymous person to him, like so many others on the internet? What if he didn’t like me in person?
But when the day finally came, I found myself at the café, sitting by the window, nervously checking the time. I had arrived early, and I felt a sense of anticipation building in my chest. Was he going to show up? Would he even recognize me?
Then, the door opened.
Yamada-kun stepped inside, wearing a simple hoodie and jeans. As soon as he spotted me, his face lit up. His smile was warm and genuine, and I felt an instant sense of relief.
“Hey,” he said, walking toward me. “You look just like your avatar, but way cooler.”
I laughed, feeling a blush creeping up my cheeks. “You don’t look like a monster hunter yourself,” I teased.
We sat down and started talking, and it was almost as if the digital walls that had separated us in the game had dissolved. We were just two people, getting to know each other over coffee. Time seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, hours had passed.
By the end of the evening, I couldn’t help but feel like I had known him forever. Yamada-kun was real, and he was just as kind, funny, and thoughtful as he had been online.
“I’m really glad we met,” I said, feeling a warmth spread in my chest.
“Me too,” he replied, his eyes softening. “This feels right.”
That night, as I lay in bed, I couldn’t help but smile. I had spent so long chasing levels in a virtual world, but in that moment, I realized that the real reward was finding someone like Yamada-kun—someone who made the game, and life, worth playing.
